Desperate Acts Of Government Continued - Europe Edition

It appears that while some will argue that all is well and all we need are some animal spirits to bring us out of the doldrums, it would appear that governments and central banks disagree. Having recently discussed Argentina's forced bank-lending (and of course the BoE's wink at Barclays), we now hear a German think-tank (DIW) is strawman-ing an idea to force the wealthy to buy government debt (or lend "transfer" up to 10 per cent of their net worth). As the Germans come under more and more pressure to save their friendly neighbors the compulsory loans from anyone with a net worth above EUR250k would provide around 9% of annual GDP (or EUR230 billion) that could be mobilized to support the Euro-rescue efforts. As FAZ, Handelsblatt, and Die Welt note, this is not being well-received as the ZEW (Center For European Economic Research) reacted critically that this "would be a huge intrusion into property rights, and probably not possible under German law" running the major risk that "with enforcement action it will probably not be able to regain market confidence," and while a similar system had been installed after the Great Depression in the 1920s (as well as after WW2), these previous loans encumbered real estate properties and not directly to cash.
We discussed this three months ago (not as policy recommendations but as expectations that all wealth will be extracted to prevent what 'they' think is pending social collapse), and while it will not be popular, it seems either directly through this route or indirectly through banking repression, the forced financial tax that we wrote of back in September is exactly what is occurring - as there are only painful ways out of this miasma.

Losing faith in the system

by David Levenstein, MineWeb.com

David Levenstein maintains that given the state of the global monetary system, now more than ever, it is important to hold physical gold.

Our modern day monetary system has been pervaded by greedy, power seeking liars, thieves and cheats. A week does not go by without a new story about another bank fraud or some illegal activity perpetrated by a supposedly “reputable” financial institution. And it seems that the more reputable the institution, the bigger the fraud. The latest LIBOR scandal is just another example of our corrupt monetary system.
Whether it is Robert Diamond, the Deputy Bank of England Governor Paul Tucker, or John Corzine of MF Global, when questioned they suddenly suffer from memory loss and deny any knowledge of any of the events in question.
Read More @ MineWeb.com

US-Led Hostile States Already Engaged in War with Syria, Says Chossudovsky

from GlobalResearchTV:

Prof. Michel Chossudovsky says that the war has already begun in Syria as Western countries are supporting and arming the terrorists in the country.

The "Contrarian" Permabull's Ultimate Guide To The Non-Zombie Economy

Presenting, with little comment, the ultimate arbiter of the truth - First Trust's Brian Wesbury - discussing his "Mark-to-Market accounting is to blame for it all; the economy is fine and is not reliant on Fed QE; 80,000 jobs creating; Facebook wealth-building" view of the non-zombie economy. So we presume: Forget China, ignore Europe, the fiscal-cliff is a molehill, and once the government stops spending/growing (which is his angle) then all will be well with this thoroughbred economy - as opposed to his non-zombie plough-horse (that unfortunately just leads us down a path of low/slow growth, labor force participation-lagging, deficit spending, social welfare dependent dysphoria).

Despite Low Volume Schizophrenia, S&P Extends Losses To 5th Day

Normal. 7bps instaswings in 10Y Treasury yields and 10 point S&P 500 e-mini futures (ES) dips and rips makes perfect sense. In a desperate bid to get back to VWAP and to hold off a fifth day of red closes in the cash S&P 500 (most in two months), equities were ramped up into the green in the last few minutes of the day only to be sold into hard (on heavier volume and larger average trade size) ending the day down 0.02 points at 1341.45. Quite a day as the 10Y auction and FOMC minutes made for a tempest in a teapot close to close (but cardiac arrests for many intraday). HYG (the high-yield bond ETF) was outperforming most of the day and provided the 'target' for the ramp at the end of the day as VXX dumped (thanks to a more-than 1 vol snap lower in VIX - sell that short-dated vol!!!) and TLT was stable. Oil's surge (inventories) accelerated as the USD leaked lower after its post-FOMC spike and Gold/Silver/Copper all pushed higher also. We can only assume that the post-FOMC drop of around 10pts in the S&P 500 was what many investors believe is enough to prompt swift action by the Fed to NEW QE - though between Oil's move and Treasury yields rising post the the auction (and more post FOMC), broad risk assets actually signal a slightly higher ES - though we suspect the utter collapse in cross-asset-class correlations is the signal that coordinated QE hopes are indeed fading and that the algos late-day reaction (rip) to Treasuries will be recalibrated to new reality soon enough. Cash S&P 500 ended up bouncing off its 50DMA and while ES ended the day +1.25pts, VIX dropped a much higher beta 0.75vols to close just below 18% - wth Treasury yields up 1-2bps by the close.

Fed Minutes: "Few Fed Members Said More Stimulus Would Be Needed"

Just because Bernanke did not explain everything in the post-FOMC conference, here is more:

• A FEW FOMC MEMBERS SAID MORE STIMULUS WOULD PROBABLY BE NEEDED
• SEVERAL ON FOMC SAID FED SHOULD STUDY `NEW TOOLS' FOR EASING - C5 Galaxy??
• FOMC PARTICIPANTS SAW MODERATE GROWTH LIKELY IN COMING QUARTERS
• FOMC AGREED `IT WAS PREPARED' FOR FURTHER ACTION AS APPROPRIATE
• FOMC SAW `UNUSUALLY HIGH' UNCERTAINTY FOR JOBLESS, GROWTH
• SEVERAL OTHER FOMC MEMBERS SAW ACTION NEED IF ECONOMY WORSENS

Well, more stimulus was needed, and we got it in the form of Operation Twist 2. Nothing new, but algos need their flashing read headlines.

No New Punchbowl Promises Send EUR Ever Closer To Fair Value

EURUSD has tumbled hard following the FOMC minutes as the much-hoped for 'we promise to print USD to infinity at the next meeting no matter what we see' phrase was missing. Two months ago, when the EURUSD was at 1.30, we asked if a 1000 pip move lower, based on relative central bank balance sheets, is in the cards. Today, we are 80% of the way there, with the Euro having tumbled 800 pips against the dollar as NEW QE gets priced further and further out - now implying a 20% likelihood of getting a new USD printing from the Fed within the next 3 months.

The Ever-Increasing Age Of Retirement

Americans work harder longer than any European nation aside from Spain. France, on the other hand, does not - with a retirement age five years earlier than the US (and only bested by the island of Malta). Over the long-term, Italy appears to be the worst case at 69 years (but in Italy-work-years this is only 51 years since they vacation three months per year). As the Washington Post points out most of the European nations (including Germany) are set to see their retirement ages raised in "a dramatic rewrite of the continent’s postwar social compact" highlighting that "measures that keep people working longer could prove one of the most significant social legacies of the debt crisis." But even then they only catch up to the American worker. Of course, the sad reality is that as workers get older, that retirement age will extend further and further away.

Mailbox

Eric De Groot at Eric De Groot - 50 seconds ago

The invisible hand anticipated the hot and dry weather better than local weather man (chart 1). Chart 1: Corn (CORN) And Corn Diffusion Index (DI) Now it's accumulating oil while most of the investment world is looking for lower prices (chart 2). Chart 2: Crude Oil (WTI) and Crude Oil Diffusion Index (DI) As for gold, even some of the long-term bulls have turned... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] 

Gold Daily And Silver Weekly Charts

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Turning Japanese

Shorter Term SP 500 Futures Daily Chart

Un po 'di questo e un po' di quella (A Little Of This And A Little Of That)

Dave in Denver at The Golden Truth - 2 hours ago

*The few who understand the system, will either be so interested in its profits, or so dependent on its favors that there will be no opposition from that class, while on the other hand, the great body of people, mentally incapable of comprehending the tremendous advantages...will bear its burden without complaint, and perhaps without suspecting that the system is inimical (harmful) to their best interests - *Mayer Amschel Rothschild, 1863 Lest anyone think that I'm a Romney supporter, given all the criticism of Obama that I issue, I found this to be not only funny but truly aweso... more » 

PFGBest: F to the R to the AUD - Wasendorf 'Faked Bank Records For Years'

 

Peak Spam

The Borg collective formerly known as the US middle class may have no money left (and its credit cards have long since been maxed out), but at least it has every internet-connected gizmo known to man and Klingon. Not surprisingly, this development has not been lost on the very same retailers who are competing dollar for dollar with the vendors who sell these same faddy gizmos to the same Borg collective. For now retailers are losing. But, like stock traders and the administration they are full of hope. And spam. And will make it known. As SM reports, spam emails from retailers "jumped 20% in the first half of the year over the same period in 2011, according to a survey released this week by Responsys, a California-based marketing software company. In June alone, these stores sent an average of 18 emails per subscriber, up 21% on last year." Expect this number to only go up until virtually every email coming into one's inbox is a groupon ad, a penis enlargement device, a PFG "try us for 30 days for free" offer, or a 90%-off "one time only" for the latest value investing congress. Because the only cost associated with spamming people is printing extra email lists. The Fed Chairman can vouch for the sunk cost associated with hitting CTRL+P. So how long until iPhone spam filter makers are more profitable than Belgian caterers?

Livestream From An Angry Madrid

And to think we were only joking less than 12 hours ago...








U.S. Gave Tens of Billions to Libor-Manipulating Banks ... Even AFTER Learning about the Manipulation

Posted by: George Washington

Post date: 07/11/2012 - 12:51

Federal Reserve REWARDS Fraud By Throwing Money At Criminal Manipulators

 

 

House of ‘Representatives’: Repeal Of Obamacare Debate

from MOXNEWSd0tC0M:

As M2 Money Supply Rolls Over, the Stock Market Will Follow

by Charles Hugh Smith, Of Two Minds:
M2 money supply rose sharply, driving the stock market higher. Now it has peaked and rolled over. That does not bode well for the Bull market.
Our
Chartist Friend from Pittsburgh kindly shared a chart of M2 money supply and the
S&P 500 stock market index (SPX). The correlation
between expansion of the money supply and the stock market is worth studying.
The primary point is that “real growth,” i.e. rising wages and profits powered by
increases in productivity, does not require massive growth of M2.
Read More @ OfTwoMinds.com

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Melinda Gates: Family Planning Means Sterilizing Women in Developing Nations

by Susanne Posel, Occupy Corporatism:
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) are hosting The London Family Planning Summit (LFPS) where they will purvey their depopulation and eugenics agenda in the name of women’s rights.
Both governmental and private sector representatives will be in attendance; where not only will lucrative deals for provision of contraception will be made, but the BMGF will secure donated funds to bring their brand of depopulation to third world nations.
The BMGF assert that by 2050 “the global population is expected to grow to over 9 billion people” and this is unacceptable to them . By applying pressure to social programs and resources, the BMGF want to use family planning as an investment for all national governments globally.
Read More @ OccupyCorporatism.com

Does it Matter if Everything is Manipulated?

by Bill Holter, MilesFranklin.com:
If the market’s participants are finally, FINALLY getting around to figuring out that markets far and wide are manipulated…does it really matter? Most people come home from work exhausted, watch the news, eat, go to bed and get up to do it all over again so what difference does it make if LIBOR is manipulated? “They prop the market up”? Yipee, if not for that, my 401K would really be wiped out, can you guys “prop” the market some more please?! The Fed buys all unbought Treasury securities to lower interest rates? Great, that will make it easier to service a mortgage or for someone else to buy my house, can y’all make rates even lower…please?!
For the most part, people couldn’t care less that markets are manipulated. They are more interested in more pressing problems like keeping their job, paying the mortgage and putting food on the table…period…until they do care. This is how “paradigm shifts” happen. You have heard the one about putting a frog in a pan of water and turning the burner on, right? Have you ever tried it? The story goes, the frog will just sit there enjoying the “warmth” until it’s too late and gets cooked. This is a myth, I knew a Cajun guy in South Texas who tried this and guess what? The frog jumped out! This, I believe is what will eventually happen, the “heat” (reality) will get turned up to a point where it cannot be ignored any longer. The “injustice” of fraud and manipulation will be too public and too painful to ignore.
Read more @ MilesFranklin.com

Ron Paul Revolution: bigger than just Ron Paul?

from RTAmerica:

Five is the magic number when it comes to formally being nominated for president. If Ron Paul wins enough delegates in Nebraska then he will be guaranteed speaking time at the Republican National Convention. In one week the state will be holding its convention and Paul’s supporters could claim it for the Texas congressman, giving him a fighting chance to gain the GOP nomination

THIS ISN’T SATIRE: HSBC To “Apologize” At U.S. Senate Hearing For Terrorist Money Laundering

[Ed. Note: How is this NOT a Saturday Night Live sketch? Maybe because the harsh reality is this: HSBC has a long history of being a 'criminal enterprise'.]
by The Daily Bail:
Anyone remember how many billions, HSBC, Europe’s largest beggar bank, borrowed secretly from The Bernank at 0% during 2008-2009… ?
Or as an AIG counterparty via Goldman…
And that’s not counting their U.K. bailout.
This is nothing new for HSBC, which has a sordid history in money-laundering, or global banking in general, which relies on hundreds of billions in illicit accounts as a regular and sometimes requisite (think crisis of 2008) staple of business.
Here are a couple of reminders:

• Wells Fargo (via Wachovia) and BofA were busted 2 years ago
• Mexican Drug Cartel Laundered Millions Via Bank Of America Into U.S. Horse Racing
from Bloomberg:
HSBC will apologize at a July 17 U.S. Senate hearing for anti-money laundering controls that weren’t effective enough, according to an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg News.
“We failed to spot and deal with unacceptable behavior,” Chief Executive Officer Stuart Gulliver said in the note sent to employees yesterday, referring to the period between 2004 and 2010. “It is right that we be held accountable and that we take responsibility for fixing what went wrong.”
Read More @ TheDailyBail.com

 

 

Farmageddon: US Farmers Desperate: “Corn is almost burnt up!”; “WE NEED RAIN”; “Worst Since 1952″

from The Daily Sheeple:

Droughts and heat across the United States have led to one of the worse harvesting seasons in recent memory, with some suggesting it could be as bad as the dust bowl of the Great Depression.
At AgWeb, an online community for farmers and those in the farming industry, the majority of commentators suggest that this year’s season is nothing short of Farmageddon:

• 7/10 - Lyon County, Iowa: Boy, did things change around here. After a wet May the rains shut off. Total of 8 tenths in June and none so far In July.

• 7/10 - Cass County, Mich.: The fields are dry and in need of rain like everywhere else. Fields being watered are running 24/7 and will be expensive at years end. Feels like the summer of 1988, all dry land corn will be considered a loss and the beans are not far behind the corn, but can hold up a little better at times, WE STILL NEED RAIN.
Read More @ TheDailySheeple.com

 

Confirmed – Chief Justice Roberts switched sides on Affordable Care Act Supreme Court decision

by Ethan A. Huff, Natural News:
Insider sources have revealed that Chief Justice John Roberts indeed flip-flopped his previous position by deciding at the last minute to affirm the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Jan Crawford, Chief Political and Legal Correspondent at CBS News reports that two unnamed sources familiar with the details of the proceedings have come forward with claims that Chief Justice Roberts caved to eleventh-hour pressures urging support for the ACA, despite having earlier opposed key portions of the legislation.
Early on, it appeared as though Chief Justice Roberts was on the same side as the four other so-called conservative justices who, not unexpectedly, ended up opposing the ACA from beginning to end. But Chief Justice Roberts apparently began to go soft on this position back in May, which triggered a long-fought battle led by Justice Anthony Kennedy to knock some sense back into him. This effort ultimately failed, however, as Chief Justice Roberts simply could not be convinced to stand by his original position.
Read More @ NaturalNews.com

5 Best Countries for Offshore Banking

by Activist Post
When we hear the term “offshore banking,” it often conjures up images of the overly-wealthy elite or sly, nefarious criminals hiding away millions of dollars from prying government eyes. But the way offshore banking is portrayed in the movies is not the reality.
Opening an account offshore is not illegal, as many people wrongly believe. In fact, many offshore financial institutions are considered safer than many domestic banks. Most foreign banks offer absolute privacy guarantees as well as security to protect your assets.
Banks in the United States are limited in the amount of the interest rates they can pay to customers. Many offshore institutions are able to offer higher interest rates to their clients. In many US and European banks, the governments have too much control, to the detriment of the countries’ citizens. Because of this, the government can step in to freeze your bank accounts and assets indefinitely.
Read More @ Activist Post

Italy Is More Worrying Than Spain

‘There’s a potential for a Greek-style political instability.’
from CNBC:

Americans’ Trust in TV Degrades Again

by The Daily Bell:
Americans’ Confidence in Television News Drops to New Low – Liberals’ and moderates’ views are now similar to conservatives‘ … Americans’ confidence in television news is at a new low by one percentage point, with 21% of adults expressing a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in it. This marks a decline from 27% last year and from 46% when Gallup started tracking confidence in television news in 1993 … It is not clear precisely why Americans soured so much on television news this year compared with last. Americans’ negativity likely reflects the continuation of a broader trend that appeared to enjoy only a brief respite last year. Americans have grown more negative about the media in recent years, as they have about many other U.S. institutions and the direction of the country in general. – Gallup.com
Dominant Social Theme: It is important for the public to watch TV news so they understand the truth of what’s happening in the world.
Free-Market Analysis: It is kind of funny to see Gallup’s execs wondering why Americans don’t “trust” television these days. Could it have anything to do with the wider disconnect between what people are told and what seems real?
Read More @ TheDailyBell.com

Manipulating LIBOR Allows Banks to Lease & Dump Gold at Artificially Low Costs

from Silver Doctors:
Our friend Harvey Organ has released an excellent missive discussing in detail how the manipulation of LIBOR by the bullion banks allows the cartel to lease gold (that they don’t own) at artificially low borrowing costs.
DROPPING LIBOR BELOW FAIR MARKET RATES ALLOWS THE BANKS TO LEASE AND DUMP GOLD INTO THE MARKET AT ARTIFICIALLY LOW BORROWING COSTS. So that drop in lease rates is VERY ominous. The worse part is the lease rates have flipped, with the ONE YEAR RATE NOW LOWER THAT THE ONE MONTH RATE. DO I BELIEVE MY EYES!?? Since the one year term and longer is the usual lease rate period of the MINES, I can only conclude that the mines are being strongly encouraged to HEDGE their production. This puts us back under the market conditions more typical of a decade ago.
Read More @ SilverDoctors.com

Strategies for Undermining the Globalist Agenda and Restoring Power to Local Communities

by Tony Cartalucci, Activist Post

As difficult as it might be for some to believe, Syria’s problem is not violence, armed insurrection, or political upheaval. Neither is it economic or social. These are but symptoms, many purposefully induced from abroad, of Syria’s real problem, and therefore any solution aimed at treating only these symptoms will provide only but the most superficial and temporary relief.
Many geopolitical analysts know this, and yet champion for the immediate treatment of these symptoms, particularly the end of violence, which makes perfect sense in a sense of “triage,” but will ultimately fail if the root of the problem is not also exposed and a solution for “digging it out” not formulated and appropriately promoted.
The Problem: Syria’s problem is not the “Free Syrian Army” nor the “Syrian National Council,” nor the myriad of terrorist organizations operating under this umbrella – but rather the corporate-financier driven foreign interests that created them, fund them, arm them, and both tactically and politically perpetuate their activities. Syria’s problem is that it has attracted the attention of Wall Street and London and found itself in the middle of their geopolitical aspirations for global hegemony.
Read More @ Activist Post

Prepping on the Cheap: The $5 a Week Shopping Challenge

by Tess Pennington, SHTFPlan:

One of the biggest excuses that people make for not prepping is that they can’t afford it.  “I can’t even afford the groceries we eat every week as it is!” they complain when urged to start buying extra food.
This week I made a trip to three different stores.  I went to Wal-Mart, the dollar store and a grocery store. Not to locate the best prices but to locate the regular prices on common food items that might find their way into a prepper’s pantry.  The following list is not based on mega-markdown loss leaders – it is based on the normal price and availability.
Here are 52 stock-ups – one for each week!

• 15 packs of Ramen Noodles
• 6 cans of  mixed vegetables
Read More @ SHTFPlan.com

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