EU-US Agree to Share Citizens Bank Data

Just a few weeks after a deal was finalized with the Swiss to provide information about clients from UBS, President Obama is taking the next step in his commitment to crack down on offshore tax evasion. On Thursday he announced a deal between the United States and the European Union to share banking data.

"The threat of terrorism faced by the United States and the European Union continues and, with this agreement, all of our citizens will be safer," Obama said in a statement released by the White House.

"This new, legally binding agreement reflects significant additional data privacy safeguards but still retains the effectiveness and integrity of this indispensable counter-terrorism program," he said.

European MPs earlier Thursday voted 484-109 for a new five-year deal to allow the United States to again have access to banking information from August 1.

The Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme had allowed US access to information from the interbank money transfer system SWIFT, which is based in Brussels, but EU lawmakers' main concern was how personal information would be used by US authorities.

Gold Prices Hit New Record

From CNN Money.com:

Gold prices climbed to a new record Tuesday as Europe's debt troubles sparked demand for perceived safe havens, such as the precious metal, and investors hedged against inflation.

What prices are doing: Gold for August delivery rose $3.60 to $1,244.40 an ounce. It climbed as high as $1,254.50 an ounce earlier in the day, a record for intraday trading.

What's moving the market: Investors remained wary about the global economic recovery amid Europe's ongoing sovereign debt problems and looked to gold and other low-risk investments, which are attractive during times of economic crisis and uncertainty.

The metal's price has jumped 13% this year.

Gold prices also got a boost from investors who believe Europe's fiscal problems will subside and are instead worried about rising prices. The Federal Reserve's loose monetary policy has some traders worried about inflation.

What analysts are saying: "One one hand you have the possibility of additional problems in Europe going forward. And if Europe implodes, gold prices will continue to rise sharply higher," said Tom Pawlicki, precious metals analyst at MF Global.

"But if the European problems go away, gold will still trade higher based on the inflation outlook," he added. "Gold is the perfect hedge against inflation.

When the dollar loses its value, gold has been seen as the alternate currency since it holds its value."

Republicans Introduce Bill to Prevent Euro Bailout

Republicans in Congress are trying to prevent a Euro bailout, and recently introduced a bill to make it a law not to help the European Union. The legislation presses European countries with financial struggles – such as Greece – to get fix their own financial problems instead of looking to American taxpayers for help.

"This legislation would require that countries, like Greece, cut spending and put their own fiscal house in order," says U.S. Congressman Mike Pence, backed up by other members of the House GOP, "instead of looking to the United States for a bailout. We face record unemployment and a debt crisis of our own, and American taxpayers should not be forced to bear the risk for nations that have avoided making tough choices."

The full release is below the fold, with the detail that the bill "does not permanently prohibit the IMF from lending" to the troubled counties. Nevertheless, Ezra Klein is not a fan of this proposal.

U.S. Congressman Mike Pence, Chairman of the House Republican Conference, joined Conference Vice-Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee Rep. Jerry Lewis, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, and Rep. Kay Granger in introducing legislation today to stop U.S. tax dollars from being used by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for bailouts for European countries. Rep. Pence released the following statement today as the European Bailout Protection Act was introduced:

“The American people are fed up with taxpayer-funded bailouts and deserve to know we are bailing out Greece and possibly other European countries. If the Obama Administration has its way, the U.S. will contribute to a nearly trillion dollar bailout of European countries with economic crises that are a direct result of wasteful government spending.

Continue reading at Washington Post.com…

Gold Hits Fresh Record on Inflation Fears

From FT.com:

Gold prices continued to set fresh highs on Wednesday, as fears about rising inflation kept the yellow metal in demand.

After overtaking its December high of $1,226.10 an ounce on Tuesday, gold reached a fresh peak of $1,243.90 in early European trade.

Gold bugs have been snapping up coins, particularly in Germany and Switzerland, amid fears over the potential inflationary impact of the European Central Bank’s decision to buy eurozone government bonds to tackle the region’s debt crisis.

Edel Tully, precious metals strategist at UBS in London, said that the €750bn eurozone rescue package agreed on Sunday night had done little to slow demand for gold. “The continuation of this heightened appetite after the bail-out was announced shows that these fears have not been allayed.”

Gold prices in euro terms also hit a fresh all-time high of €981.49 an ounce, up 28 per cent since the beginning of the year.

How The U.S. Can Avoid the Greek Problem

Greece’s economic troubles have sparked concern among the rest of the world, especially here in the U.S. Their huge debt, and inability to meet their debt payments has many European countries scrambling to help, since they have such strong financial ties to Greece.

In a new article on CNN Money titled “How the U.S. can avoid the Greek problem,” author Jeanne Sahadi urges the U.S. government to create a financial commission such as the bipartisan panel President Obama suggested to tackle the nation’s long term debt problems. Check out a snippet of Sahadi’s opinion piece below.

The delay in getting the commission up and running is due in great part to partisan jockeying from both sides of the aisle and continued uncertainty about whether current Republican lawmakers will agree to take part.

There's no guarantee that when it does materialize it will have the respect of many in Congress, which would have the final word on the commission's recommendations.

And the call for the commission has taken on greater urgency in light of the recent global volatility caused by the sovereign debt crisis in Greece, which threatens all of Europe.

"You need a fiscal commission. You need it now," Simon Johnson, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told lawmakers this week.

The commission will be asked to figure out ways to get annual deficits down to 3% of gross domestic product by 2015 and thereafter put the country on a more sustainable fiscal track.

Continue reading at CNN.com…

Porsche to Take Over VW?

Although Porsche has been buying VW stock like crazy for the past year, there has been a piece of legislation called the VW Law which has stopped Porsche from taking full control over the company. However, the European Courts recently stuck down the law and now there is nothing preventing Porsche from increasing their stock ownership. Porsche currently has a 31% stake in VW, but with this new announcement they are expected to increase that to at least 51%. The industry expects Porsche to be patient with the rest of the process, possibly taking up to a year, but there is no doubt that they will soon control VW. Thanks to AutoBlog.