“Euro-area consumer prices increased more than economists estimated in December as higher prices for food and services offset slower growth in energy costs.

The inflation rate remained at 2.2 percent, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today. The median forecast of 34 economists in a Bloomberg News survey was for a decline to 2.1 percent.

The European Central Bank last month lowered its 2013 inflation forecast to 1.6 percent from 1.9 percent and projected prices will increase 1.4 percent next year. The ECB will maintain its benchmark interest rate at 0.75 percent next week, economists forecast in a separate Bloomberg survey.

The euro-area economy has shrunk for two successive quarters and economists foresee a further decline in gross domestic product in the final three months of last year. The ECB estimates contractions of 0.5 percent and 0.3 percent in 2012 and 2013. The ECB yesterday said November lending to households and companies slowed for a seventh month.

The euro was little changed after the data were released, trading at $1.3011 at 11:03 a.m. in Brussels, down 0.3 percent.

Energy prices increased 5.2 percent in December after a 5.7 percent gain a month earlier, today’s report showed. Prices of food, alcohol and tobacco rose 3.1 percent, compared with 3 percent growth in November, while the cost of services rose 1.8 percent after a 1.6 percent increase a month earlier…”

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“China’s services industries’ growth slowed in December, a private survey showed, even as a pickup in new business added to the likelihood that the economy accelerated for the first time in eight quarters.

The services Purchasing Managers’ Index released by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics today was at 51.7 after 52.1 in November. Companies added workers at the fastest pace in more than two years and were “optimistic” business would improve, HSBC said in a statement.

“Despite the moderation of December’s headline services PMI, the underlying strength of services sectors improved in terms of stronger new business flows and employment growth,”Qu Hongbin, chief China economist at HSBC in Hong Kong, said in the statement. “This, plus the further pickup of manufacturing growth, suggests that China is on track” to report fourth- quarter economic growth of about 8 percent, he said.

China’s new leadership, headed by Xi Jinping, is targeting “sustained and healthy development” of an economy that may have expanded last year at the weakest rate since 1999. The government cut taxes for smaller companies and low-income households, accelerated investment approvals and boosted infrastructure spending to support growth amid a slump in exports.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) rose 0.6 percent as of 2:11 p.m. local time after advancing as much as 1.2 percent. The gauge had gained 16 percent through Dec. 31 since falling to a 2012 low on Dec. 3. Chinese stock markets were closed Jan. 1-3 for the New Year holiday.”

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“Australia’s dollar fell against its U.S. counterpart, trimming a weekly gain, after service-industry indexes in the South Pacific nation and China declined.

Australian bonds dropped, pushing benchmark 10-year yields to the highest in more than four months after gains in Asian stocks curbed demand for haven assets. The so-called Aussie and New Zealand’s dollar were supported against the yen amid speculation the Japan’s central bank will boost stimulus to weaken its currency.

“The Aussie is looking a bit overvalued,” said Masashi Murata, a currency strategist in Tokyo at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. “The risk scenario for the Aussie is for the recovery in the Chinese economy to halt and Australia’s domestic demand to deteriorate.”

The Australian dollar fell to $1.0441 as of 4:25 p.m. in Sydney, down 0.2 percent from yesterday and poised for a 0.7 percent gain this week. It climbed 0.4 percent to 91.66 yen from yesterday, when it touched 91.76, the highest since September 2008.

New Zealand’s dollar, known as the kiwi, dropped 0.4 percent to 82.47 U.S. cents from yesterday, paring its gain since Dec. 28 to 0.6 percent. It rose 0.2 percent to 72.39 yen…”

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World Markets

Currencies

Commodities

USD Libor

Euribor

Yields for Italy, Spain, France,  and Germany …

 

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[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qx2lMaMsl8 450 300]

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US: WE INITIATE TERRORISM TO CREATE TERRORISTS TO

OVERTHROW GOVERNMENTS

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[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RC1Mepk_Sw 450 300]

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[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B9ycOLil7s 450 300]

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I always love a good conspiracy theory….

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With a sad twist of irony, corporate and government elite dine on safe, organic food while the masses, those very people who are supposedly represented and protected by their governments, are poisoned by hidden genetically modified organisms, pesticides and dangerous contaminants. The presidential family demands organic food in their kitchen, yet behind closed doors, shake hands with the biotech industry. China’s top brass is fed by an exclusive, gated organic garden while the rest of the population consumes GM food, steroid contaminated meat and dairy laced with melamine. Even Monsanto’s own employee’s command non-genetically modified food in their canteen. Access to clean, organic and healthy food is not a given right anymore — it has become a political battleground with the average citizen suffering the loss.

White House double-take

While First Lady Michelle Obama digs up the White House lawn to plant an organic garden, her husband promotes a GMO agenda within his administration. “You know, in my household, over the last year we have just shifted to organic,” she said in a New Yorker interview during Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. Organic produce from the garden feeds the Obama family and visiting dignitaries alike. Seems okay so far. But then take a look at Obama’s laundry-list of presidential appointed positions with biotech ties: USDA head Roger Beachy, a former director at Monsanto, FDA food safety czar Michael Taylor, one-time vice president for public policy at Monsanto, Commissioner of the USDA Tom Vilsack who created the Governors’ Biotechnology Partnership. Under President Obama, 10 new GM crops have been approved for ‘safe consumption.’ ”

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“Preservatives and synthetic food agents found in foods inhibit oxygen and delay the development of fungus and mold, creating a longer shelf-life for products. But after being consumed, these toxins deprive human cells of oxygen and rob them of nutrients, thus leading to cell mutation and the perfect breeding ground for cancer.

Just like humans, cells need oxygen to survive and thrive. “Fungus fighting” preservatives and man-made food agents choke out your body’s nutrients at the DNA level by depriving mitochondrial cells of oxygen, sometimes completely shutting them down. And if the body does not have enough essential nutrients, it becomes more susceptible to disease.

Longer shelf life, shorter human life

If you’re not a label-reader already, you better become one soon. You don’t have to be a chemist or a linguist either, just be able to sight read and spot the poisons so you can live cancer-free. Most food toxins are followed by a phrase, often in parenthesis, to make them sound “safe” andin your best interest, like “as a preservative,” or “for added freshness,” or “to preserve flavor.” These catchy little phrases really mean for the added choking of your cells to aid with cancer development.

The top 10 cell stranglers revealed

The United States has several major regulatory agencies and “cancer prevention” organizations which have not only been suppressing natural cancer cures for 70 years, but have been approving, supporting, endorsing and profiting from cancer-causing agents in food, beverages and cosmetics since World War II….”

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“According to the FBI annual crime statistics, the number of murders committed annually with hammers and clubs far outnumbers the number of murders committed with a rifle.

This is an interesting fact, particularly amid the Democrats’ feverish push to ban many different rifles, ostensibly to keep us safe of course.

However, it appears the zeal of Sens. like Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) is misdirected. For in looking at the FBI numbers from 2005 to 2011, the number of murders by hammers and clubs consistently exceeds the number of murders committed with a rifle.

Think about it: In 2005, the number of murders committed with a rifle was 445, while the number of murders committed with hammers and clubs was 605. In 2006, the number of murders committed with a rifle was 438, while the number of murders committed with hammers and clubs was 618.
And so the list goes, with the actual numbers changing somewhat from year to year, yet the fact that more people are killed with blunt objects each year remains constant.

For example, in 2011, there was 323 murders committed with a rifle but 496 murders committed with hammers and clubs….”

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“Gold saw gains against all fiat currencies again in 2012 (see charts and tables).

Gold rose 7% in US dollars and was 4.9% higher in euro terms and 2.2% higher in sterling terms or to put it more correctly the major fiat currencies fell these amounts in 2012 against immutable gold.

The gains were the smallest annual gains since 2008 but built on the steady gains of the last 12 years.

Silver also had a stellar year with all fiat currencies falling against silver in 2012. Silver was 8% higher in US dollar terms and 6.6% in euro terms, 3.9% in sterling pound terms and by 22.6% in Japanese yen terms.

Platinum and palladium also saw gains and returned 9% and 7.5% respectively.

Global shares rallied in 2012 with the help of central banks flooding the world with money and a tentative global economic recovery.

The MSCI All-Country World Index of equities increased 16.9%.

23 out of 24 benchmark indexes in advanced countries rose, with Greece, Germany and Denmark in the lead. Spain was the loser.

The UK’s FTSE 100 rose 5.8%; Germany’s Dax jumped 29.2%; France’s CAC 40 added 15.2%; Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 7.8% while Spain’s IBEX 35 dipped 4.7%.

Much of Gold’s Gains in 2012 On 11% Price Gain in January 2012
Gold fell in seven months of the year and rose in five (January and June to Sept). Interestingly, gold’s biggest monthly rise was in January when gold returned 11.1%.

Thus, speculative buyers not allocated to gold at the start of the year and attempting to time the market may have not enjoyed the gains of 2012….”

 

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“A federal judge issued a 75-page ruling on Wednesday that declares that the US Justice Department does not have a legal obligation to explain the rationale behind killing Americans with targeted drone strikes.

United States District Court Judge Colleen McMahon wrote in her finding this week that the Obama administration was largely in the right by rejecting Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and The New York Times for materials pertaining to the use of unmanned aerial vehicles to execute three US citizens abroad in late 2011 [pdf].

Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan, both US nationals with alleged ties to al-Qaeda, were killed on September 30 of that year using drone aircraft; days later, al-Awlaki’s teenage son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, was executed in the same manner. Although the Obama administration has remained largely quiet about the killings in the year since, a handful of statements made from senior White House officials, including Pres. Barack Obama himself, have provided some but little insight into the Executive Branch’s insistence that the killings were all justified and constitutionally-sound. Attempts from the ACLU and the Times via FOIA requests to find out more have been unfruitful, though, which spawned a federal lawsuit that has only now been decided in court.

Siding with the defendants in what can easily be considered as cloaked in skepticism, Judge McMahon writes that the Obama White House has been correct in refusing the FOIA requests filed by the plaintiffs….”

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“The first reading on rail traffic showed a modest decline to -0.1%.  The beginning of the year is usually a volatile period for rail traffic trends so it’s better to take a bit longer view here.  The 12 moving moving average remains modestly positive at 2.23%.  That’s consistent with an economy that is expanding, but still muddling through.  Here’s a bit more detail via the AAR: ”

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“Transocean, the drilling company that owned the oil rig implicated in the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, will plead guilty to violating the Clean Water Act and pay a $1.4 billion fine, the Justice Department said Thursday.

Justice filed the agreement in a Louisiana court Thursday. A judge must approve the settlement.

Shares of Transocean jumped with news of the settlement, closing up more than 6% at $49.20 a share.

The settlement reflects the government’s contention that BP, a multi-national oil company based in London, is ultimately responsible for the April 20, 2010, blowout of the Macondo well that killed 11 rig workers and led to the largest oil spill in U. S. history….”

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“Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner plans to leave the administration at the end of January, even if President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans haven’t reached an agreement to raise the debt ceiling, according to two people familiar with the matter.

After giving in to Obama’s previous entreaties to stay as long as needed, Geithner has indicated to White House officials and Wall Street executives that he is unlikely to change his departure plans this time, increasing pressure on the president to name his successor at Treasury, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss the private discussions.

Geithner, 51, is the only remaining member of Obama’s original economic team and was a key figure in the taxpayer- funded bailouts during the 2008 financial crisis. He’s also had a principal role in negotiations with Congress on the budget deal and in past deliberations over the debt ceiling.

White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew remains the leading contender for the Treasury job, the people said. Because Lew’s experience in financial markets is thin, Obama may seek to name a Wall Street executive as the deputy treasury secretary, they said….”

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“If you think the big banks learned painful lessons about risk-taking during the financial crisis, think again: They’re still taking the same risks, and we don’t even know how big those risks are.

In the latest edition of The Atlantic, Frank Partnoy and Jesse Eisinger have a 9400-word opus on the untold horrors lurking on big-bank balance sheets. The elevator summary: Boy, banks sure do a lot of dodgy trading, and they hide their potential losses from investors.

This may not come as shocking news. But it’s one of those things that we can’t hear often enough, with the momentum for reform cooling every day we get further away from the crisis. Big banks still have the capacity to blow up the financial system, and our inability to trust them makes another disaster even more likely.

Particularly useful is Partnoy and Eisinger’s deep dive into the latest annual report of a supposedly staid, conservative bank, Wells Fargo. The authors discover that the bank is not simply lending money and giving away toasters, like banks used to do. Based on the authors’ accounting, it looks like nearly $20 billion of Wells Fargo’s $81 billion in revenue in 2011 came from one kind of trading or another.

And the bank doesn’t offer much, if any, detail about the potential risks of that trading. How much money could Wells Fargo lose on its trades, which include hard-to-trade and hard-to-value derivatives? In the worst case, could the losses threaten the $148 billion in capital reserves Wells Fargo claims to have? Nobody knows, because Wells Fargo doesn’t tell us, and they’re not required to.

Meanwhile, even more risk is being shoved under the carpet, into entities that don’t show up on bank balance sheets, but for which the banks are nevertheless ultimately on the hook. These are the sorts of accounting tricks used by Enron and by the banks before the crisis, and they’re still in use….”

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“Google CEO Larry Page envisions a future in which computers plan your vacations, drive your cars, and anticipate your whims. Audacious? Maybe. But Page’s dreams have a way of coming true.

Note: On Jan 3, as Fortune published this article, the Federal Trade Commission ended its investigation of Google’s search practices saying it found no evidence that the company manipulated search results in violation of antitrust laws. The European Commission and other regulators continue to investigate the issue.

FORTUNE — When Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP Group, the giant advertising agency, visited Google this past fall, CEO Larry Page sent a car to pick him up at the Rosewood Hotel about 20 miles away. Only this was no ordinary car. The Lexus SUV drove itself thanks to a slew of high-tech tools, including radars, sensors, and a laser scanner that takes more than 1.5 million measurements every second. For about 20 minutes, while navigating I-280 and the area’s busy State Route 85, the car cruised on autopilot, making quick course corrections, slowing down here when traffic loomed ahead, speeding up there to get out of the blind spot of a neighboring vehicle. “It was pretty incredible,” says Sorrell.

Page’s chauffeurless car service is no mere parlor trick. It is, as Page will tell anyone who’ll listen, the future of transportation. Never mind that most people think the mere idea of computer-driven cars is (1) preposterous, (2) dangerous, or (3) not much fun. Page makes the case for self-driving cars with the dispassionate logic of an engineer. The father of two young children, Page insists that his pet project, when ready, will actually enhance safety. Soon Google (GOOG) will be able to simulate your driving, “but just make sure you don’t die and kill anybody else,” he tells me during an interview in the private “bullpen” where he meets with his top lieutenants. He methodically enumerates the other advantages of driverless cars. There are energy savings (traffic would flow more efficiently) and productivity gains (commuting hours reclaimed). There will be cost savings too — in the millions of dollars at Google alone. The Googleplex, he says, is short on parking, and quotes for new garages have come in at $40,000 per car. Why not let the car drop you off and go park itself offsite? Page asks. “Whenever you need it,” he adds, “your phone notices that you’re walking out of the building, and your car is there immediately by the time you get downstairs.”

MORE: Google – No. 1 on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For ….”

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A light bulb that transfers bandwidth without competing with WiFi…

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