Jon Corzine Is Full Of Shit And A Liar

Dave in Denver at The Golden Truth - 39 seconds ago

Jon Corzine has released the written testimony that he will make before Congress today. It has been highly polished up by his legal advisers and contains so many "I can't recall's" that even Bill Clinton would blush. I just want to address one specific quote from the testimony because I know - for a fact - that Corzine is lying. Here is just one statement he makes that I know is a lie, from page 17 of the prepared testimony: *I did not, however, generally involve myself in the mechanics of the clearing and settlement of trades, or in the movement of cash and collateral. Nor was I ... more » 

 

 

 

 

Corzine "Simply Does Not Know Where The Money Is" - Presenting Jon Corzine's Complete Testimony To Congress

Probably far more anticipated than the monetary announcements out of BOE (which just announced it is keeping rates at a record low of 0.5%, but no more QE), or even the ECB, and certainly far more than the latest and not greatest European summit which begins today, is the 9am testimony out of the House Agriculture Committee by one "Honorable" Jon S. Corzine, as well as the Q&A that will follow. Naturally the Q&A will be the focus, but as for the prepared remarks, they have just been released and are presented below. The choice selection: "Obviously on the forefront of everyone’s mind – including mine – are the varying reports that customer accounts have not been reconciled. I was stunned when I was told on Sunday, October 30, 2011, that MF Global could not account for many hundreds of millions of dollars of client money. I remain deeply concerned about the impact that the unreconciled and frozen funds have had on MF Global’s customers and others. As the chief executive officer of MF Global, I ultimately had overall responsibility for the firm. I did not, however, generally involve myself in the mechanics of  the clearing and settlement of trades, or in the movement of cash and collateral. Nor was I an expert on the complicated rules and regulations governing the various different operating businesses that comprised MF Global. I had little expertise or experience in those operational aspects of the business. Again, I want to emphasize that, since my resignation from MF Global on November 3, 2011, I have not had access to the information that I would need to understand what happened. It is extremely difficult for me to reconstruct the events that occurred during the chaotic days and the last hours leading up to the bankruptcy filing....I simply do not know where the money is, or why the accounts have not been reconciled to date. I do not know which accounts are unreconciled or whether the unreconciled accounts were or were not subject to the segregation rules. Moreover, there were an extraordinary number of transactions during MF Global’s last few days, and I do not know, for example, whether there were operational errors at MF Global or elsewhere, or whether banks  and counterparties have held onto funds that should rightfully have been returned to MF Global." Translation - he pleads da FIF.

ECB's Mario Draghi Press Conference Live Webcast

LTRO changes, collateral expansion, other? What will the ECB undertake to extend and pretend today? Find out at the ECB's conference today.
Key headlines:
Will conduct two LTROs, with 36 month maturity with option of early repayment. First will be allotted on December 21, 2011, and will replace October 6, 2011 LTRO. This is more than the expected 2 years.
ECB will ease collateral criteria for loans to banks. Will reduce rating threshold on ABS collateral
National Central banks can accept credit claims such as bank loans
Will reduce the reserve ratio from 2% to 1%, which will free up collateral in money markets

 

 

The M2 Has Jumped Up. The Fed Is In The Market.

Admin at Jim Rogers Blog - 5 minutes ago

[Federal Reserve Chairman Ben] Bernanke said last August he was keeping interest rates artificially low. The only way you can do that is to go into the market. Since August - well, this whole year - the M2 has jumped up. They're in the market. They're lying to us. - *in Yahoo Finance* *Related ETFs, ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasuries ETF (TBT), iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasuries Bond ETF (TLT) * *Jim Rogers is an author, financial commentator and successful international investor. He has been frequently featured in Time, The New York Times, Barron’s, Forbes, Fortune, The Wa... more » 

 

 

 

 

Here Come Draghi, Sarkozy And Merkel - Presenting Drakozel

As of this morning, we know that in addition to the now inseparable Merkel and Sarkozy, later today in Brussels, just after he is finished with his press conference, they will be joined by Goldman's, pardon ECB's, Mario Draghi, who sooner or later will pull a Colonel Korzine  and tell some faux hearing "he has no idea where the European money is." But all in due course. In the meantime, we present an artist's rendering (in this case the artist being the inimitable William Banzai) of what the fire and brimstone that will emanate from the Draghi-Sarkozy-Merkel hybrid, henceforth known as Drakozel, will look like. Because after all, the "Honk" Paulson doctrine of terrifying everyone into debt slavery and out of sovereignty, or else face certain annihilation is now the only strategy left for the mortally wounded global ponzi scheme.

Act II Begins

The leaders pretty much have to cobble together some form of agreement. If they don’t reach an “agreement” the market will likely sell off 5% or more pretty quickly. We were at 1150 2 weeks ago when Europe was back to no plan, so that would be a pretty obvious target if they can’t reach an agreement this week. If they reach an agreement, the market is likely to move up a bit (1-2%), the bulls will be dancing in the street shouting out that Europe is fixed and gets it. The bears will point out that the agreement is a long way from being implemented and is unlikely to ever actually be followed. In either case, it doesn’t make a difference. The moment a treaty agreement is announced (assuming it is) the market will turn its attention to the ECB, IMF, and Fed. The market will be desperately hoping that the ECB immediately follows up the “successful” treaty summit with a new and fresh commitment to become lender of last resort for sovereigns. Expect disappointment. Draghi may be a dove, but he seems focused on banks (which is his primary mandate) and is unlikely to implement a new, and in Europe, revolutionary policy. The markets will test their resolve. Italian and Spanish bonds aren’t trading so well because anything has been fixed or because the market cares about treaties. The bonds rallied hard because the ECB was in the market and no one wanted to take a chance that a treaty agreement would be the excuse the ECB needed to ramp up its purchases. Without aggressive ECB action, Italian and Spanish bonds will decline in price, and renewed fears will hit all risk assets.

Citigroup Explains How The ECB Will Drive The EUR Today

Citi's Steven Englander shares his outlook on what the key things to look out for, in the 8:30 am press conference, are. One variable in his forecast has already been presented: the cut was 25 bps not 50 bps. As he says: "By contrast, if they did 50bps and indicated that more aggressive measures might be forthcoming, the pendulum could swing to positive." In other words, the kneejerk jump in EURUSD following the ECB has been largely misguided for now, especially with forward EONIA rates jumping across the curve confirming that European liquidity is about to get far tigher all over again.

ECB Cuts Rates By 25 bps, As Expected

The ECB has cut the various relevant interest rates by 25 bps, in line with expectations, but not the 50 bps most likely needed to stem the crisis. Mario Draghi's second press conference begins in 45 minutes.

Daily US Opening News And Market Re-Cap: December 8

• Reports suggested that the G20 is considering USD 600bln lending programme for the IMF to help the Eurozone, however the news was later denied by the IMF and Japanese officials
• According to sources, the EU is discussing EUR 200bln loan to the IMF with EUR 150bln from the Eurozone, and the  Eurozone is negotiating lifting EUR 500bln cap on the EFSF and ESM lending
• Le Monde wrote, French banks need EUR 7bln of additional capital, however recapitalisation can be done without any state aid. Later, French ACP financial regulator declined to comment on the report
• The Bank of England kept its key benchmark interest rate and asset purchase target unchanged at 0.50% and GBP 275bln respectively

Frontrunning: December 8

• Germany insists on new treaty for Europe (FT)
• Banks Prep for Life After Euro (WSJ)
• Bank Values in Europe Fail to Lure Buyers (Bloomberg)
• Banks' Ratings Reliance Nears End (WSJ)
• BOE’s King Waits to See Europe Crisis Response (Bloomberg)
• Accelerating U.S. Economy Eases Pressure for Further Fed Asset Purchases (Bloomberg)
• Government acts on payday loan worries (FT)
• Hong Kong May Loosen Property Curbs: Tsang (Bloomberg)

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