XIAM007 - Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World: 06/02/10

Wednesday, 2 June 2010

US Mint Out Of Not Only Silver But Gold American Eagles As Well - and the mint has no idea when or if available -

Update: After following up with the Mint, any shipments and deliveries of American Eagle 2010 edition both gold and silver are TBD and the mint has no idea on when these will be received if at all this year. A small shipment of American Buffalo gold coins will go on sale on June 3 at noon. The mint expects these to sell out promptly.

Earlier we reported that the US Mint has run out of American Eagle silver coins. It turns out the Mint is also out of gold American Eagles. Here is the US Mint page linking to various American Eagle subcategories.

And here is the specific "availability" of:

1. American Eagle Gold Proof Coins:

Production of United States Mint American Eagle Gold Proof and Uncirculated Coins has been temporarily suspended because of unprecedented demand for American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins. Currently, all available 22-karat gold blanks are being allocated to the American Eagle Gold Bullion Coin Program, as the United States Mint is required by Public Law 99-185 to produce these coins “in quantities sufficient to meet public demand . . . .”

The United States Mint will resume the American Eagle Gold Proof and Uncirculated Coin Programs once sufficient inventories of gold bullion blanks can be acquired to meet market demand for all three American Eagle Gold Coin products. Additionally, as a result of the recent numismatic product portfolio analysis, fractional sizes of American Eagle Gold Uncirculated Coins will no longer be produced.
Update: Due to the continued, sustained demand for American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins, 2009-dated American Eagle Gold Proof Coins will not be produced.

2. American Eagle Gold Uncirculated Coins:

Production of United States Mint American Eagle Gold Proof and Uncirculated Coins has been temporarily suspended because of unprecedented demand for American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins. Currently, all available 22-karat gold blanks are being allocated to the American Eagle Gold Bullion Coin Program, as the United States Mint is required by Public Law 99-185 to produce these coins “in quantities sufficient to meet public demand . . . .”
The United States Mint will resume the American Eagle Gold Proof and Uncirculated Coin Programs once sufficient inventories of gold bullion blanks can be acquired to meet market demand for all three American Eagle Gold Coin products. Additionally, as a result of the recent numismatic product portfolio analysis, fractional sizes of American Eagle Gold Uncirculated Coins will no longer be produced.
Update: Due to the continued, sustained demand for American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins, 2009-dated American Eagle Gold Uncirculated Coins will not be produced.

For those looking for Platinum, the 2010 on sale date is still TBD:

In 2009, the United States Mint introduced a new six-year platinum coin program. This new series explores the core concepts of American democracy by highlighting the Preamble to the United States Constitution. This program will examine the six (6) principles of the Preamble as follows:

   1. 2009--To Form a More Perfect Union, SOLD OUT
   2. 2010--To Establish Justice,
   3. 2011--To Insure Domestic Tranquility,
   4. 2012--To Provide for the Common Defence,
   5. 2013--To Promote General Welfare, and
   6. 2014--To Secure the Blessings of Liberty to Ourselves and our Posterity.

The themes for the reverse designs for this program are inspired by narratives prepared by the Chief Justice of the United States, John G. Roberts, Jr., at the request of the United States Mint.

2010 on sale date: To be determined.

Drunken parrots falling out of trees in Australia - birds are eating a food that causes the appearance of intoxication -

Drunken parrots falling out of trees in Australia - birds are eating a food that causes the appearance of intoxication -

Filthy, Drunken Parrot Royalty Free Stock Vector Art Illustration

Filthy, Drunken Parrot Royalty Free Stock Vector Art Illustration

For several weeks, the residents of Palmerston, Australia, have been scooping up apparently drunken parrots at the roadside and taking them to a local animal shelter to dry out.

Dozens of lorikeets have been landing face first, tottering around uncertainly and no doubt insisting they’re “jusht fine” to fly home.

“They definitely seem like they're drunk,” Lisa Hansen, a veterinary surgeon at the Ark Animal Hospital told Agence France-Presse. “They fall out of trees . . . and they're not so coordinated as they would normally be. They go to jump and they miss the next perch.”

Hansen has three dozen of the parrots just coming off shore leave in her shelter. They spend their days lying on the bottom of a cage, trying to block out the light by shoving their heads under scattered newspapers.

The “drunken” lorikeet infestation isn’t new. It’s a yearly occurrence. Animal experts suspect that the birds are eating an unknown food that causes the appearance of intoxication.

But Hansen has never seen the phenomenon in such numbers.

Vets are treating the avian DTs with fresh fruit and sweetened porridge.

“It's probably the equivalent of ice-cream and cans of Coke for the lorikeets,” Hansen said.

Warren Buffett Expects ‘Terrible Problem’ for Municipal Debt - said guaranteeing against default - a dangerous business -

Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has been trimming its investment in municipal debt, predicted a “terrible problem” for the bonds in coming years.

“There will be a terrible problem and then the question becomes will the federal government help,” Buffett, 79, said today at a hearing of the U.S. Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in New York. “I don’t know how I would rate them myself. It’s a bet on how the federal government will act over time.”

Berkshire’s investment portfolio included municipal bonds valued at less than $3.9 billion as of March 31, down from more than $4.7 billion at the end of 2008. The company had a maximum of $16 billion at risk in derivatives tied to such debt, according to the company’s annual report for 2009.

Buffett, Berkshire’s chairman and chief executive, has previously warned about the risks of insuring municipal bonds. In his annual letter to shareholders in 2009, he said public officials may be tempted to default on bonds whose payments are guaranteed by insurance companies rather than push through needed tax increases. He said guaranteeing municipal bonds against default “has the look today of a dangerous business.”

Local governments rely on the $2.8 trillion municipal bond market to raise money for construction projects and fund other budget items. The financial crisis and recession battered governments across the U.S. by cutting into tax collections and causing pension-fund losses. Some governments failed to set aside enough money to cover retirement benefits promised to employees, which may place increasing strain on public finance.

Rescue for Governments?

Buffett said last month that the U.S. may feel compelled to rescue a state facing default after the government committed $700 billion to bail out financial firms and automakers.

“It would be hard in the end for the federal government to turn away a state having extreme financial difficulty when they’ve gone to General Motors and other entities and saved them,” Buffett told shareholders in Omaha, Nebraska, at Berkshire’s May 1 annual meeting. “I don’t know how you would tell a state you’re going to stiff-arm them with all the bailouts of corporations.”

A report by the Pew Center on the States in February estimated that by the end of the 2008 budget years, states had $1 trillion less than needed to pay for future pensions and medical benefits, a gap the center said was likely compounded by losses suffered in the second half of 2008.

Defaults

About $14.5 billion of municipal bonds defaulted in 2008 and 2009, according to Income Securities Advisor Inc., a Miami Lakes, Florida-based company that publishes a newsletter tracking distressed debt. Many those were securities backed by revenue from nursing homes, property developments and other projects without claim to government tax revenue.

Defaults by local governments with the power to raise taxes are less common. Jefferson County, Alabama, defaulted on more than $3 billion of bonds backed by sewer fees after the deals grew more costly in the wake of the credit crisis in 2008. Vallejo, California, filed for bankruptcy in 2008 after its tax revenue tumbled.

Buffett set up a municipal bond insurance company in December 2007 as competitors, including Ambac Financial Group Inc. and MBIA Inc., struggled to maintain top ratings. Berkshire has scaled back sales as Buffett said the rates that bondholders are willing to pay don’t match the risk.

Finnish police probe theft of virtual furniture - stolen from around 400 users of the Habbo Hotel virtual hotel -

A virtual thieving spree could have real life consequences for culprits in Finland, where police are investigating the theft of virtual furniture on a social networking site popular with teenagers.
"Significant amounts of virtual property" were stolen from around 400 users of the Habbo Hotel virtual hotel, where visitors can create a character for themselves to hang out with friends, take care of virtual pets and furnish their own rooms for a fee, Finnish police said Tuesday.
The cyber thieves used hoax web pages to steal user names and passwords, which they then used to sign in to Habbo profiles and shift property away from its rightful owners, the police said in a statement.
As part of the investigation, the police have searched homes in five Finnish cities, confiscated computers and interrogated several people, they said, adding that while the value of damages could not yet be defined, for some users the cost could be "significant".

Read more - http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.b054565423287aad171074503885d125.71&show_article=1