Monthly Archives: June 2011

Monitoring Earthquakes

I realize that this is an unusual thing to do, but I have started monitoring earthquake activity in the United States.  For some reason, probably the recent earthquake in Japan, I have been interested in earthquakes, and how common they are in certain parts of the world.  I was a little surprised to know that there is a major fault zone in the central United States.

I was really surprised that there is an easy way to track earthquakes using the United States Geological Survey notification system. After creating an account you can get an email sent when an earthquake occurs, and you can filter them based on region and magnitude as you wish. Here’s a sample notification:

3.5 Ml – CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
Preliminary Earthquake Report Magnitude 3.5 Ml
Date-Time

* 30 Jun 2011 22:03:24 UTC
* 30 Jun 2011 15:03:24 near epicenter
* 30 Jun 2011 16:03:24 standard time in your timezone

Location 36.457N 120.365W
Depth 8 km
Distances

* 7 km (4 miles) SW (220 degrees) of Cantua Creek, CA
* 23 km (14 miles) SW (223 degrees) of San Joaquin, CA
* 24 km (15 miles) SSW (206 degrees) of Tranquillity, CA
* 35 km (22 miles) N (359 degrees) of Coalinga, CA
* 168 km (104 miles) SE (125 degrees) of San Jose City Hall, CA

Location Uncertainty Horizontal: 0.3 km; Vertical 0.6 km
Parameters Nph = 59; Dmin = 13.0 km; Rmss = 0.22 seconds; Gp = 68°
M-type = Ml; Version = 2
Event ID NC 71593265

For updates, maps, and technical information, see:
Event Page
or
USGS Earthquake Hazards Program

CISN Northern California Management Center
U.S. Geological Survey
Berkeley Seismological Laboratory

http://www.cisn.org/ncmc.html

Disclaimer

Note that if you select a low magnitude for the threshold for notifications you will have quite a few emails sent to you, as minor earthquakes are surprisingly common. I was surprised by how many earthquakes occur in Alaska and California. There are numerous ones that don’t make the news, and cause little damage. Makes you wonder if they are building up to a big one?

There are also some cool historical charts and other data. Here’s one that I particularly found to be interisting.

So those of you in Memphis- do you have earthquake insurance? I don’t believe I do (I need to check with my agent). I wonder if the next Katrina-like event (besides our national debt crisis) could be a major earthquake?

Another question: What the heck is going on in central Arkansas? (Besides the obvious, which I won’t go into, as I’m not a genealogical or genetic expert.)
Some have speculated that it is “fracking” for petroleum products. I wonder is there is a resource that shows where these “fracking” operations are conducted?

Dodd-Frank Shenanigans

I recently received an email that I have listed below from my FOREX broker, Oanda. I think this one slipped under the radar when our intrepid leaders were in a tizzy to pass some legislation so we could both appear to be doing something, and appear to know what to do during the recent economic crisis.  The futures exchanges recently raised margins for gold and silver , which some have blamed for the large correction that occurred in silver.  While it probably had something to do with it, as the email below shows, leveraged silver and gold trading from forex brokers is soon going to be a thing of the past.  I’m not certain how many people actually trade gold and silver in this way; it will be interesting to see how this impacts the markets.  I guess it could be part of the reason for the recent decline in both gold and silver, but it also could be an overdue correction.  I think the long-term outlook for both gold and silver is still good, but this government interference in the markets may have a short-term disruptive effect.  Luckily the consumer is being protected, right?  As long as both parties to a leveraged gold or silver trade complies with their agreements, there is no need for the government to protect us from risk.  Taking risk is part of being an American, but the nanny state is here to save your from yourself.

/sighs.


As a result of the recently enacted Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, U.S.-based retail forex dealers such as OANDA are prohibited from offering leveraged trading in precious metals to retail clients after Friday, July 15, 2011.

As a client based in the U.S., you will not be able to trade our four precious metal pairs (XAU/USD, XAG/USD, XAU/JPY, XAG/JPY) on a leveraged basis, effective end of day July 15. Leveraged trading in other currency pairs will remain unaffected, with the same margin requirements.

You will still be able to trade precious metals, but only on a 1:1 non-leveraged basis (requiring substantially more margin). If you do not have sufficient margin to cover your open metal positions in full, you need to reduce your exposure to gold and silver pairs before end of day July 15, or risk a margin call of all your open positions when this change is implemented.

We sincerely regret any inconvenience caused by this change in legal requirements. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Customer Service Team at frontdesk@oanda.com.

We appreciate your business with OANDA.

– The OANDA fxTrade Team

 

Disclaimer- The proprietor is long both silver and gold.