Infinite Unknown

- Moody’s downgrades Italian banks, outlook negative (Reuters, May 15, 2012):

Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the long-term debt and deposit ratings for 26 Italian banks on Monday, citing the country’s recession and rising bad debt levels.

The banks were all downgraded by at least one notch, and for some, by as many as four notches, Moody’s said, adding all of the banks affected have a negative outlook.

The moves marked another blow for Italy’s top five banks after they were asked to find some 15 billion euros by June to meet tougher capital requirements set by the European Banking Authority due to vast holdings of domestic government bonds.

Economic recession in Italy has worsened credit quality as banks come under pressure from the government to put cheap funding from the European Central Bank to work in the real economy.

“The ratings for Italian banks are now amongst the lowest within advanced European countries, reflecting these banks’ susceptibility to the adverse operating environments in Italy and Europe,” Moody’s said in a statement.

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Tags: Banking, Collapse, Economy, EU, Europe, Global News, Italy, Moody's, Rating

- Rogers: “Volume Is Not Going To Come Back. We’ve Had A Great 30 Years. That’s Finished!”

Jim Rogers is hedging his gold (and silver) positions reflecting that this is normal, following such a tremendous run, and that this is good for the precious metal in the long-run. In his discussion with Maria Bartiromo this afternoon, he notes India’s anti-gold ‘protectionism’ (and its potential balance of payments issues) that are trying to force the hoarding into risky ‘productive’ assets (as others might say). The immutable commodity maven suggests JPMorgan (and its peers) could be behind the drops in the overall commodity complex as the uncertainty of their positions (and liquidation potential to raise cash as bank examiners begin their forensics) becomes more important. He holds the USD, which he hates; has a number of equity shorts; and is most fearful of banks – specifically admitting he is a serial seller of calls on JPMorgan. His advice, and perhaps Maria should look into it given their ratings recently, is to become a farmer; own farmland; and speculate on agriculture. On the dismal ‘ethical’ state of our leaders and management, the thoughtful Rogers opines, “You can read world history for decades. There are always people doing things wrong. We have not changed our human nature and we will continue to have scandals and problems” and in a follow-up to CNBC’s standard ‘money-on-the-sidelines’ argument he crushes the money-honey’s dreams: “Finance had a great 30 years. That’s finished. Now to advance, we have too many people, too many MBAs, too much leverage and too many governments that don’t like us”. A must-see rebuttal to the ‘normal’ CNBC hopium with more on China’s slowdown, a US recession, Europe and a Greek exit, QE3, and ‘tractors’.

Tags: Collapse, Commodities, Dollar, Economy, Global News, Gold, Jim Rogers, JPMorgan, Silver, U.S.

Tags: Economy, Global News, Government, Paul Krugman, Politics, Ron Paul, U.S.

Got PHYSICAL gold and silver?

Here is why:

Flashback:

- Greek Euro Exit: 60% Currency Devaluation, Default, Banking Sector Collapse

Here is what happened to Mexico:

– Hedge Fund Manager Kyle Bass Explains The New World Order (Panel Presentation):

On Greece:

For those who think a 50% write-down on debt will fix Greece, you have lost your mind. It is only a full wipe-out of the non-TROIKA-owned debt that is the only mathematical way for Greece to have any chance.

…

Don’t believe these governments when they tell you everything is going to fine. The day before Mexico devalued by 60% they denied that they would ever devalue. They can and will never tell you the truth. Find your own numbers.

Here is what happened to Belarus:

- Belarus Devalues Its Currency By 56% Overnight, Against Every Currency Out There:

Luckily for those who held their “money” in the form of gold and silver, they just got an instantaneous 56% value preservation and a relative boost in their purchasing power with just one central bank announcement.

- Euro Officials Begin to Weigh Greek Exit as Euro Weakens (Blomberg, May 14, 2012):

Greece’s possible exit from the euro moved to the center of Europe’s financial-crisis debate, rattling markets as authorities in Athens struggled to form a government.

Meetings brokered by Greek President Karolos Papoulias were set to continue today after Syriza, the leading anti-bailout party, rejected a unity government following inconclusive elections May 6. That moved the country closer to a new vote, with at least five European central bankers broaching the once- taboo topic of its exit from the euro.

“We’re really getting to a denouement,” Michael O’Sullivan, head of portfolio strategy at Credit Suisse Private Banking, said today in a Bloomberg Television interview. “We’re getting to the part where a decision has to be made” on whether Greece leaves the 17-nation currency union, he said.

Euro finance ministers meeting today in Brussels may discuss the bailout for Greece, as well as the situation in Spain, where the government last week made a fourth attempt to clean up banks. Getting German Chancellor Angela Merkel to weaken her demand that debt cutting be the core of the crisis response will be a key objective of new French President Francois Hollande when the two meet tomorrow in Berlin.

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Tags: Bailout, Bonds, Debt, ECB, Economy, EU, Euro, Europe, Global News, Government, Greece, Karolos Papoulias, Politics, Society

- Apple Founder Wozniak to Buy Facebook Regardless of Price (Bloomberg, May 14, 2012):

Apple Inc. (AAPL) co-founder Steve Wozniak said he will buy shares in Facebook Inc. (FB) when the social networking company sells stock to the public in what may be a record initial public offering for an Internet business.

Wozniak, who built the first Apple computer with Steve Jobs and co-founded the company with him in 1976, said he would buy Facebook’s stock regardless of its valuation.

Facebook plans to raise as much as $11.8 billion in an IPO scheduled for May 17 in what would be the biggest in history for an Internet company. The company is offering 337.4 million shares to the public at $28 to $35, giving it a market value at the top of the range of $96 billion.

“I would invest in Facebook,” Wozniak said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Sydney yesterday. “I don’t care what the opening price is.”

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Tags: Apple, Economy, Facebook, Global News, Steve Wozniak, Stock Market, U.S.

- Euro zone turmoil boosts London property stampede (Reuters, May 13, 2012):

* Euro zone turmoil pushes property buyers to London

* Buyers from southern Europe to the fore

* “The Greeks are coming”

LONDON — Worsening financial and political turmoil in southern Europe caused a surge of interest in London property last month with buyers from Greece and Spain showing strongly among investors seeking a safe haven for their money.

The number of Greeks searching for homes costing more than 1.5 million pounds ($2.4 million) on the website of property agent Savills jumped 39 percent in April compared with the average of the preceding six months, the company said.

“The reason Greeks are coming is very simple,” said Dinos Joannou, a 65-year-old Cypriot who works in the Athenian Grocery in the Bayswater district of London and has seen growing numbers arrive this year. “Greece is screwed, there are no jobs and it has been run by crooks.”

The number of Europeans buying property in London has grown steadily over the last year as the euro zone debt crisis has worsened but numbers spiked ahead of elections in Greece last weekend that failed to produce a government.

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Tags: Economy, EU, Europe, Global News, Government, Greece, London, Politics, Real Estate, Society, U.K.

- The Nuclear Industry and Fukushima: A Giant Nail in the Coffin of Humanity (Intel Hub, May 12, 2012)

Tags: Economy, Environment, Fukushima, Global News, Government, Health, Japan, Nuclear, Nuclear reactors, Politics, Radiation, Science, Society, Technology, TEPCO, U.S.

- Double or Nothing: How Wall Street is Destroying Itself (ZeroHedge, May 12, 2012)

There’s nothing controversial about the claim— reported on by Slate, Bloomberg and Harvard Magazine — that in the last 20 years Wall Street has moved away from an investment-led model, to a gambling-led model.

This was exemplified by the failure of LTCM which blew up unsuccessfully making huge interest rate bets for tiny profits, or “picking up nickels in front of a streamroller”, and by Jon Corzine’s MF Global doing practically the same thing with European debt (while at the same time stealing from clients).

As Nassim Taleb described in The Black Swan these kinds of trades — betting large amounts for small frequent profits — is extremely fragile because eventually (and probably sooner in the real world than in a model) losses will happen (and of course if you are betting big, losses will be big). If you are running your business on the basis of leverage, this is especially dangerous, because facing a margin call or a downgrade you may be left in a fire sale to raise collateral.

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Tags: Banking, Ben Bernanke, Black Swan, Economy, Fed, Federal Reserve, Global News, Jamie Dimon, Jon Corzine, JPMorgan, MF Global, Nassim Taleb, Wall Street

- Germany Begins Quantifying The Cost Of A Greek Exit (And Discovers Contingent Liabilities Are All Too Real) (ZeroHedge, May 12, 2012)

Tags: Economy, EU, Europe, GDP, Germany, Global News, Government, Greece, IMF, Politics

- Greece headed into ‘out of control bankruptcy’ – govt. salaries and pensions soon to go unpaid (Natural News, May 13, 2012):

The financial crisis in Greece is reaching an explosive tipping point, with the youth unemployment rate now exceeding a startling 50 percent and the government itself announcing it will be forced to stop paying salaries and pensions by June:

“We will be in wild bankruptcy, out-of-control bankruptcy,” said Theodoros Pangalos, the deputy prime minister of Greece. “The state will not be able to pay salaries and pensions. We have got until June before we run out of money.” (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9262068/Greece-wil…)

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Tags: Collapse, Economy, EU, Europe, Global News, Government, Greece, Pension, Politics, Society, Theodoros Pangalos