After news crews outnumbered customers in some ATM lines last week when banks in Cyprus opened back up following a bailout deal with European Union officials, the mainstream financial media appears to have quickly lost interest in this story. They shouldn't. This continues to be one of the more important developments in the long-running global financial crisis and it's likely to spur a go... read more

The head of Greece's National Confederation of Greek Commerce has slammed the Troika and the European leaders for their treatment of Cyprus as the first wave of contagion begins. "The tragic situation.. will have immediate effects on the Greek market," he noted as at least 1600 Greek businesses will suffer from the Cyprus deal - with the haircuts and capital controls expected to dramatically im... read more

Cyprus, a small island country on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, has been caught in the limelight of the international media as the latest victim of the eurozone crisis. What began as an attempt to stabilize the country's troubled banks has turned into a debate about the very existence and reliability of the global banking system. Cyprus, while representing less than 1% of the Euro... read more

Gold as a collateral Gold is becoming a major source of high quality collateral with its multi dimensional intrinsic aspects. According to the World Gold Council, gold is increasingly being used in the financial system as a source of high-quality collateral. Its lack of credit risk and c... read more

Most of the recent "currency war" talk refers to countries trying to lower the value of their currencies to gain a trade advantage and/or make their debts more manageable. But this war has another theater, where a weaker currency is not the main goal. Start with the premise that when a country conducts most of its trade in another currency, it cedes power to the "reserve currency" issuer. Ri... read more

Paper is poverty, and merely the ghost of money. Thomas Jefferson

The majority of Americans, and citizens of the world for that matter, have no concept of what money is or how it actually works. For most, money, whether in a paper roll or represented by digits on their computer screen, means wealth. That the very issuance of money... read more

The eyes of Texas are upon you” goes the song, but right now those eyes seem to be squarely focused on the financial crisis in Cyprus. Texas Gov. Rick Perry is supporting a bill that would return the state’s $1 billion in gold reserves currently stored by the Federal Reserve at a vault in New York to the state. The sponsor of the bill, State Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake,  read more

I'll bet a few Cypriot bank account holders are paying much closer attention to gold now.

Since the announcement that Cyprus was looking to confiscate up to 10% of bank deposits, gold has risen by up to $24/ounce on safe haven demand. After all, gold is real wealth, and it's the only asset that's not simultaneously someone else's liability. Central bankers, even in the West, kno... read more

Many parents looking to the future and concerned about their children’s financial security have been reframing reasons for owning silver as a long term investment. Awareness seems to be growing among parents that an outstanding way to provide for their child's future educational expenses is to employ silver ownership as an investment vehicle. These college expenses typically include tui... read more

Today 40-year veteran, Robert Fitzwilson, wrote the following piece exclusively for King World News.  Fitzwilson, who is founder of The Portola Group, warned investors that the Cyprus theft has now changed everything.  He also focused on what investors around the world can do to protect themselves. Below is Fitzwilson’s exclusive piece for KWN: “A phrase which many of us are familia... read more