Federal authorities investigating the collapse of MF Global have expanded their inquiry to include the actions of the CME Group, the operator of the main exchange where the commodities brokerage firm conducted business, according to people briefed on the matter.

CME, which also served as MF Global’s primary regulator, has come under heavy criticism after $1.2 billion in customer money disappeared from MF Global. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the government agency leading the case, is now scrutinizing CME’s conduct in the days before MF Global filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 31st.

In particular, the commission is reviewing whether CME’s efforts to verify the safety of customer funds were sufficient, the people said.

It's nice to see one of the real culprits in this fiasco finally floating into the crosshairs of the investigators. This story was posted late last night in The New York Times...and I thank reader Phil Barlett for sending it along. The link is here.

It's simply amazing how quickly the US managed to hit its debt target, pardon, debt ceiling all over again...And now the Social Security Fund pillaging begins anew until Congress signs off on the latest interim debt ceiling increase.

You just read the entire text of this tiny zerohedge.com piece. The rest of the article is a table of numbers. It's a very short read courtesy of Wesley Legrand...and the link is here.

First let me just say that I do not rely on technical indicators to make trading decisions. All my trades are based on Auction Market Principles. The futures markets trade in an auction and price is determined by supply and demand. However, I do like to glance at volume indicators. This is the most glaring bearish negative divergence in comparison to the price action in a futures contract I have seen since I don't know when. Divergence is when an indicator and the price of an asset are moving in different directions. It is a lack of confirmation.

I'm looking forward to today's COT report, and what will happen if the Dollar makes a new 52-week high...and one thing is for sure, any reversal pattern that forms in the Dollar index will have me trading to the short side.

This is an excellent Scott Pluschau article on the dollar which I consider a must read, because [for the most part] as goes the dollar, so goes the price of the precious metals. It's posted over at scottpluschau.blogspot.com website...and the link is here. The charts alone are worth the trip.

I had the good fortune to be interviewed by Kerry on Wednesday...and he provided the link to the mp3 file yesterday afternoon. The audio interview runs about twenty minutes or so...and it's posted over at the kerrylutz.com website. The link is here.

Countries around the world, particularly in the West, are hopelessly in the red, with debt rising every day. Even worse, politicians seem paralyzed, unable -- or unwilling -- to do anything about it. It is a global disaster that threatens the immediate future.

It's the classic pyramid, or snowball scheme, practiced by thousands of con artists after Ponzi. The most spectacular case was that of New York financier Bernard Madoff, who was responsible for losses of about $20 billion by 2008. Snowballs are set into motion, becoming bigger and bigger as they roll along. In the worst case, they end in an avalanche that takes everything else with it.

Western economies have not acted much differently than the fraudster Madoff. In 2011, they were virtually inundated with bad news and old sins. Almost everyone -- in Europe and in the United States -- has been living beyond their means, from consumers to politicians to entire countries. Governments have become servants to the markets upon which they have become dependent.

The fact that nations are continually spending more than they take in cannot turn out well in the long run. The word "credit" comes from the Latin "credere"...which means "to believe." The system will only function as long as lenders believe in borrowers. Once the belief in the creditworthiness of borrowers is destroyed, hardly anyone will be willing to buy their securities.

When that happens, the system is finished.

This very long must read was posted on the German website spiegel.de yesterday. I was amazed to see such a frank article show up in the main-stream press...but Europe is different from the U.S. This is Roy Stephens first offering of the day...and it's a barn-burner. The link is here.

The scale of the problems facing the eurozone banking system were highlighted on Wednesday as shares in Italian financial group UniCredit crashed with the launch of a deeply-discounted €7.5bn (£6.2bn) cash call.

After falling 15pc on Wednesday, shares were down 12pc in mid-afternoon trade at €4.766, after being suspended at least twice amid volatile trade.

Italian bank shares filled eight of the top ten fallers in the FTSE Mib index in Milan, with Banco Popolare falling 8.3pc and Intesa Sanpaolo down 5.7pc. The index as a whole fell 3.2pc to 14,837.59.

French and German banks also led the fallers in their respective indices. Société Générale fell 3.2pc, while Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank in Germany both fell 3.9pc.

This story was posted in The Telegraph yesterday afternoon...and is another Roy Stephens offering. The link is here.

Hungary was forced to cancel a bond swap auction amid an escalating financial and political crisis that investors fear could trigger another dangerous shockwave in Europe.

The Budapest government saw borrowing costs soar and the currency plunge as traders bet that international authorities may abandon Hungary, letting it become the first European Union country to default on its debts.

The florint fell more than 1pc to a record low against the euro and bond yields soared over 10pc. The Hungarian government, which has defied Brussels by introducing a raft of radical constitutional reforms, called off its plans to swap old debt for new because it would be too expensive.

Traders, already rattled by the advancing eurozone debt crisis, including a drastically discounted rights issue by UniCredit, were unnerved by the emergence of a new front in central Europe. France's CAC index fell 1.6pc, while Germany's Dax and the FTSE 100 dropped 0.6pc each.

This story is also from The Telegraph...and I borrowed it from yesterday's edition of the King Report. The link is here.

Jean Leonetti, France’s minister for European affairs, yesterday gave the clearest indication yet that the tax will be brought into law, saying the French and German governments were agreed that it should be implemented.

“This is on the programme for the next European summit [on January 30]. Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel have decided on this and it will be put in place before the end of 2012,” Mr. Leonetti said in a television interview.

Britain and Sweden are alone among the EU’s 27 member countries in opposing the tax, which has gained iconic status among finance industry critics.

In the UK, the Robin Hood Tax Campaign has been set up to lobby for the imposition of a financial transaction tax, which it says would see the banking sector pay for the damage the campaign says it caused in the financial crisis.

The bowler hat/bumbershoot crowd in the City of London will not be amused.

This was also posted in The Telegraph late Wednesday night...and I lifted this one from yesterday's King Report as well. The link is here.

The European Union and the United States on Wednesday tightened the sanctions noose around Iran, with diplomats in Brussels saying a preliminary agreement had been reached on an EU embargo of Iranian oil. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé said a final decision could be taken by the end of the month.

Washington hailed the agreement, saying it was "the result of lots of consultations" with its EU allies. It announced that US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was to go to China next week to discuss "coordination" over new US sanctions against Iran's central bank.

The West's double squeeze on Iran adds to existing sanctions imposed over Tehran's nuclear programme that is increasingly destabilising the Islamic republic oil-dependent economy.

Iran's fury at the moves being made against it was apparent in threats this week it made against the US navy.

This AFP story was posted over at the france24.com website yesterday...and is another Roy Stephens offering. The link is here.

China will roll out measures to boost consumption this year as it strives to meet challenges posed by a global slowdown, Commerce Minister Chen Deming said.

The government is studying policies to encourage spending on energy-saving products, and will take other measures including the promotion of online shopping and tourism, Chen told the ministry’s annual works conference, according to a statement posted on its website yesterday.

Policy makers have cut taxes to spur consumption and help sustain growth in the world’s second-largest economy as Europe's debt crisis clouds the outlook for exports and a property crackdown damps investment at home. Premier Wen Jiabao said Jan. 3rd that business conditions may be “relatively difficult” this quarter.

Well, no shades of grey there...the Chinese economy is definitely heading south. This Bloomberg story from yesterday morning was sent to me by West Virginia reader Elliot Simon...and the link is here.

Eric King sent me this blog yesterday afternoon...and here's a paragraph of what Stephen had to say...

“The year started with the dollar down the first day and gold had a very big up-move. The last two days the euro has been clobbered and the dollar has been very strong and (yet) gold has continued to rise. That, to me, is a very, very good sign. Historically, when gold breaks away from other things, when it starts acting on its own, that tends to be a very positive sign."

The rest is worth the read as well...and it's posted over at the King World News website...and the link is here.

The changes have been subtle and even span generations, which accounts for few people even noticing. Yet, looking back over the history of the US currency, one immediately sees that the citizens have been fleeced!

In 1929, all newly issued US currency was standardized in size and general appearance. For example, the $10 bill would now always be printed with Alexander Hamilton’s portrait. At this time, it’s interesting to note that bills were issued in different series...Federal Reserve Note, Gold Certificate and Silver Certificate.

All these issues had the same general appearance, but differed primarily in their obligation to the bearer of the bill.

This is a very interesting read, with some great photos of what a precious metal-backed currency used to look like in the United States...and I thank reader 'JK from California' for sharing this with us. It's posted over at the ounceofsilver.info website...and the link is here.

The demand for American Silver Eagles and Canadian Maple Leaf coins has increased tremendously over the past several years. 2011 will be the first year in which official coin sales will surpass domestic silver production in both countries.

Even though each country has seen declines in their domestic silver production over the past decade, U.S. silver production declined a whopping 30% year-over-year in October. According to the USGS in their most recent Silver Mineral Industry Survey, silver production fell to 81,400 kilograms in October— compared to 117,000 kilograms the same time last year.

This fascinating must read article is posted over at the marketoracle.co.uk website...and I thank reader Bob Fitzwilson for sending it along. The link is here.

GoldMoney founder and GATA consultant James Turk told King World News yesterday that gold's bottom is in...and that silver will be the next Apple...and soon.

Eric sent me this James Turk blog yesterday afternoon. It's a must read, of course...and the link is here.