The deal being worked out over eastern Ukraine sounds like the 1937 Munich capitulation and unlike the British rush to defend Polish borders 75 years ago in Sept. 1939—right down to the presence of a supposed outsider in the deal (Hitler in 1937; Putin in 2014.)

This July, the US imported 12% less oil (crude and products) than it had in July, 2013, 9.06 million barrels per day (mbpd). In fact, the imports were the lowest in any July since 1995, according to data from the American Petroleum Institute, an industry body.

It is not just the Bank of England where a minority of policymakers support tightening of credit. At our Fed too the hawks are swooping led by Kansas City Fed Chief Esther George.

Today's Wall Street Journal reports that Glaxo's CEO Sir Andrew Witty also faces pressure to clean up its business lines and boost results. Triggering the dissent is the latest bribery scandal eruption, over Syria.

These are cheap prices for gold bars, but remember you will have to pay insurance after taking delivery; leaving the gold with Bullion Vault (BV) means cheap insurance.

Today I face what the locals call an “embarras de richesse”, a pot of cash from mySunday profit- and loss-taking (both because of taxes; I don't want to go into hock to Obama, Cuomo, and de Blasio, all off whom tax my earnings plus capital gains outside my IRA.