U.S. Treasury Announces GM ‘Exit Strategy’ … Taxpayers To Lose Billions Of Dollars

Treasury announces GM exit strategy; automaker buying 200 million shares from U.S. (The Detroit News, Dec 19, 2012):

Washington — The Obama administration said Wednesday it will sell 200 million shares — or 40 percent of its remaining stake in General Motors Co. — back to the automaker and announced plans to completely exit the Detroit automaker by March 2014.

Read moreU.S. Treasury Announces GM ‘Exit Strategy’ … Taxpayers To Lose Billions Of Dollars

Detroit To Obama: We Voted For You, Now Bail Us Out! – ‘Obama Owes Us Some Bacon’ (Video)

Fox 2 News Headlines

Detroit To Obama: We Voted For You, Now Bail Us Out! (The Daily Bail, Dec 6, 2012):

‘Obama owes us some bacon.’

According to Detroit Councilwoman JoAnn Watson, President Obama owes the city some government ‘bacon’ for supporting him in the 2012 election.  In a recent council meeting, Watson said, “Our people in an overwhelming way supported the re-election of this president and there ought to be a quid pro quo  on that.”

Read moreDetroit To Obama: We Voted For You, Now Bail Us Out! – ‘Obama Owes Us Some Bacon’ (Video)

Bombshell: Deutsche Bank Hid $12 Billion In Losses To Avoid A Government Bailout


Former CEO of Deutsche Bank Josef Ackermann in 2008

Bombshell: Deutsche Bank Hid $12 Billion In Losses To Avoid A Government Bail-Out (ZeroHedge, Dec 5, 2012):

Forget the perfectly anticipated Greek (selective) default. This is the real deal. The FT just released a blockbuster that Europe’s most important and significant bank, Deutsche Bank, hid $12 billion in losses during the financial crisis, helping the bank avoid a government bail-out, according to three former bank employees who filed complaints to US regulators. US regulators, whose chief of enforcement currently was none other than the General Counsel of Deutsche Bank at the time!

From the FT:

The three complaints, made to regulators including the US Securities and Exchange Commission, claim that Deutsche misvalued a giant position in derivatives structures known as leveraged super senior trades, according to people familiar with the complaints.

All three allege that if Deutsche had accounted properly for its positions – worth $130bn on a notional level – its capital would have fallen to dangerous levels during the financial crisis and it might have required a government bail-out to survive.

Read moreBombshell: Deutsche Bank Hid $12 Billion In Losses To Avoid A Government Bailout

Unprecedented Implosion Of European Car Sales (Chart Of The Day)

Chart Of The Day: The Unprecedented Implosion Of European Car Sales (ZeroHedge, Dec 4, 2012):

The graphic below, which presents an unvarnished picture of Europe’s true economic state, needs no explanation:


Source: FT

In the context of the above, no explanation is also needed that quietly, and without much fanfare, French car-maker, Peugeot, and Europe’s second largest after VW, was recently GMed, and received a government bailout.

Carmaker Peugeot gets $9.1B government bailout

The French government has agreed to underwrite up to €7 billion ($9.1 billion) of bonds issued by Banque PSA Finance SA, the financing unit of carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen SA, allowing the French automaker to offer low-cost credit to its dealerships and clients amid a slump in sales.

Read moreUnprecedented Implosion Of European Car Sales (Chart Of The Day)

The EU Clowns & The Greek Circus

“Greece Is Re-Re-Saved” – Caption Contest 11/27/2012 07:54

Europe’s Latest Can-Kicking Euphoria Fading Quick 11/27/2012 – 07:18:

It wouldn’t be Europe if the insolvent continent did not announce, to much pomp and circumstance, another final rescue for a broke country which was nothing but a short-termist can kicking exercise. It also wouldn’t be Europe if the leaders did not do much if any math when coming up with said “rescue”, and it certainly wouldn’t be Europe if the initial EURphoria following such an announcement was not promptly faded. Sure enough, all three have now occurred with the EURUSD soaring to over 1.3000 in the moments after last night’s soon to be obsolete announcement, only to see a gradual and consistent sell off over the next several hours, dropping to a week low of just under 1.2940 as details emerged that… there were not details. To wit, as Market News reported:

  • EU COMMISSION: FUNDING FOR GREECE DEBT BUYBACK NOT WORKED OUT YET

In other words, the use of funds for the third Greek bailout has been more than detailed. The only tiny outstanding issue – the source of funds.

But don’t worry: Europe’s magic money tree is second to none when it comes to fruiting “confidence”, “hope” and other such European synonyms to BS.

Greece Kicks The Can For The Third Time – SocGen’s Take: “More Will Be Needed” 11/27/2012 – 03:32

Mark Grant On Greece: “There Is No Deal Here” 11/26/2012 – 20:45

We Have A New New New Greek Deal – Full Details And Live Webcast 11/26/2012 – 19:46

False Alarm: No Deal Yet – This Is After All The Circus Known As Europe – Live Webcast 11/26/2012 – 17:48

Greece Is Saved, Again, As Eurozone And IMF Reach Deal On Greek Debt/GDP of 124% By 2020 11/26/2012 – 17:13

The Latest Greek ‘Bailout’ In A Nutshell: AAA-Rated Euro Countries To Fund Massive Hedge Fund Profits

The Latest Greek “Bailout” In A Nutshell: AAA-Rated Euro Countries To Fund Massive Hedge Fund Profits (ZeroHedge, Nov 21, 2012):

With constantly changing variables in what will be the fourth and not final Greek bailout, it has been relatively difficult to pinpoint just what the “fulcrum security” is in the ongoing restructuring that is not really a cramdown bankruptcy but kinda, sorta is, and more importantly where the money will come from. A big issue that Europe has discovered with a two and a half year delay (pointed out here first, but anyone with capacity for rational thought could have grasped it at the time), is that Greece has hit the inflection point where without more, and substantial, debt forgiveness it is unviable entity, and will certainly not hike the Troika’s hard line target of 120% debt/GDP by 2020. In other words, Greece can no longer layer more debt to pay down debt.

Read moreThe Latest Greek ‘Bailout’ In A Nutshell: AAA-Rated Euro Countries To Fund Massive Hedge Fund Profits

Former Top ECB Banker Smaghi: Spain Needs A Bailout … Immediately

Original article: Top-Banker Smaghi: Spanien braucht sofort einen Bailout (Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten, Nov 13, 2012)

Google translation: Top bankers Smaghi: Spain needs a bailout immediately (Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten, Nov 13, 2012)

Rep. Ron Paul’s Farewell To Congress (Video)

A MUST-SEE!!!


“My goals in 1976 were the same as they are today: Promote peace and prosperity by a strict adherence to the principles of individual liberty.”

…”economic ignorance is common place, as the failed policies of Keynesianism are continually promoted”…

… “psychopathic totalitarians endorse government initiatives to change our world” …

Forward to 2:08:40:

Gerald Celente Nov 5, 2012: ‘Euro Zone Becomes A Dead Zone’ (Video – 2/5 – German Subtitles)


YouTube

Description:

Gerald Celente, the founder of the Trends Research Institute, at the Marriott Hotel in Munich, Germany, on November 3rd, 2012. Celente was holding a presentation later on on the Internationale Edelmetall- und Rohstoffmesse, the largest precious metals conference in Europe. You can find Gerald Celente at trendsresearch.com and trendsjournal.com.

Nigel Farage: Bailouts Are A Means For Total Subjugation Of Nation States (Video)

“There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by the sword. The other is by debt.”
– John Adams



YouTube Added: Oct 23, 2012

More quotes:

Read moreNigel Farage: Bailouts Are A Means For Total Subjugation Of Nation States (Video)

Greece Needs An Extra €30 Billion In Aid (WSJ) – Greeks Fail To Agree On Bailout Terms (Financial Times)

Greece Faces Need for Additional Assistance (Wall Street Journal, Oct 26, 2012):

BRUSSELS—Greece will need an extra €30 billion ($39 billion) in aid from its international creditors through 2016 to make up for a deeper-than-expected recession and a two-year delay in budget targets, senior European finance-ministry officials were told Thursday in their first detailed discussion on how to keep the debt-ridden country in the euro zone.

Greeks fail to agree on bailout terms (Financial Times, oct 25, 2012):

Greek politicians on Thursday failed again to finalise an overhauled bailout that would give them two additional years to meet tough deficit targets after a holdout leader of a small coalition party continued to resist sweeping labour reforms.

Fortis Kouvelis, head of the moderate Democratic Left, told his party’s executive committee last night that changes were needed in the labour measures for the package to be acceptable, according to a person at the meeting.

Nigel Farage On The Total Subjugation Of Europe (Video)

Nigel Farage On The Total Subjugation Of Europe (ZeroHedge, Oct 23, 2012):

Forget black swans, Nigel Farage is rapidly turning himself into the black sheep of the EU Parliament with his constant stream of truthiness and honest pragmatism. It seems the broadly nodding-donkeys that fill the chamber remain cognitively dissonant to any and everything in the real world – hanging instead on the next soundbite from Van Rompuy or Barroso on how well things are going, or how the crisis is ‘almost’ over. If only the Germans would bless them all with their money. In one his plainest-speaking rants, Farage provides clarity to his ‘peers’ on just exactly what the bailouts of Greece, Portugal, Ireland, and soon to be Spain and Italy are actually about – the “total subjugation of the states to a completely undemocratic structure in Brussels.” Is it any wonder Samaras and crew – while happy to accept cash and make promises – are pulling away from yet another (this time is the last time) Troika-driven austerity push? “The euro-zone is in a very dark place; economically, socially, and politically.”

Some mind-blowing quotes in here as Farage refers to the leaders of Italy and Spain and their remarkable nonsense…

Listen to the entire 3:30 – it is frightening just what is occurring on the ground across the pond from a US nation with eyes only for the election for now…


YouTube

Germany: After Starting Riots In Greece, Bilderberg Merkel Booed Down In Stuttgart

Stuttgart (the capital of Baden-Wuerttemberg) who has been run by Merkel’s CDU for decades has just voted for a Green Party mayor.

There has to be a second round of voting though, because he didn’t get enough of the votes during the first ballot.

The biggest sign on the first pic reads: Stop World War 3!

The people are continuosly chanting: “GET LOST!”

Stuttgart should be a HOME-RUN for Merkel’s party, but Baden-Wuerttemberghas been taken over by the Green Party.

Now watch this!!!


After Starting Riots In Greece, Merkel Booed In Germany Next (ZeroHedge, Oct 13, 2012):

What does an iron chancellor have to do to be loved these days? After scrambling 7,000 members of the Greek police force out of an early prepaid retirement for her brief, still inexplicable 6 hour visit to Athens last Tuesday, which caused the now usual Syntagma square rioting, Merkel next took the stage in a rainy Stuttgart, in a show of support for the local mayor candidate Sebastian Turner, which promptly devolved into 14 minutes of continuous booing.Watch below.

More pictures from the same rally, where people apparently were not too keen on WWIII:

Read moreGermany: After Starting Riots In Greece, Bilderberg Merkel Booed Down In Stuttgart

The Bears Explain How The Rich Get Richer (Video)

The Bears Explain How The Rich Get Richer (ZeroHedge, Oct 12, 2012):

In an attempt to break the now ubiquitous narrative that “its all about income tax rates”, and to challenge the ridiculous new support for QEternity; ‘The Bears’ that brought you ‘The Bernank’ are back. In this cartoon, they explain how the bailouts made people like Warren Buffett far wealthier than they should be and exposes who actually benefits from all this QE. The Bears, The Buff-ate, and The Bernank – simply perfect.


YouTube

China Bails Out World’s Largest Maker Of Solar Panels

China Bails Out World’s Largest Maker Of Solar Panels (ZeroHedge, Sep 30, 2012):

Chinese local governments are facing the prospect of major unemployment problems should the swathe of solar panel makers, that have been subsidized from birth to now-near-death, continue to suffer from US and European tariffs (as well as simple gross mis-allocation of capital amid massive over-capacity). However, as is the way of the mal-investing world today, no barrier to rational economic theory is too low for government status-quo maintenance as it would appear that local banks have been strong-armed into extending loans to keep them alive. As Reuters reports, debt-laden (NYSE-traded) SunTech Power Holdings  – which is close to removal from the exchange due to its dismal equity price – has just received new ‘bailout’ loans. First, it was a race to debase. Now, we have the race to bailout the world’s most worthless companies (especially in channel-stuffed industries) as the New Normal trade wars continue.

Via Reuters:

Banks in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, have extended new loans totalling 200 million yuan ($31.73 million) to locally headquartered solar power giant Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd, the Shanghai government-owned China Business News reported on Friday, citing anonymous sources.

Suntech, the world’s largest maker of solar panels, whose shares hit a high of $90 in early 2008, runs the risk of being removed from the New York Stock Exchange for failing to keep the average closing price of its shares higher than $1 over the last 30 trading days as of Sept. 10, Suntech said in a statement on Sept. 21.

Read moreChina Bails Out World’s Largest Maker Of Solar Panels

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: A Culture Of Delusion (‘Unless Scales Fall From Americans’ Eyes, Americans Are Doomed’)

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during President Reagan’s first term. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal. He has held numerous academic appointments, including the William E. Simon Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, and Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

paul-craig-roberts
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts

A Culture of Delusion (Paul Craig Roberts, Sep 27, 2012):

A writer’s greatest disappointments are readers who have knee-jerk responses. Not all readers, of course. Some readers are thoughtful and supportive. Others express thanks for opening their eyes. But the majority are happy when a writer tells them what they want to hear and are unhappy when he writes what they don’t want to hear.

Read moreDr. Paul Craig Roberts: A Culture Of Delusion (‘Unless Scales Fall From Americans’ Eyes, Americans Are Doomed’)

AND NOW …. Quadrupling The Euro Bailout Fund: ESM To Be Leveraged To 2 TRILLION Euros (Focus/Spiegel)


German TRAITOR Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble is in favor of leveraging the ESM. Here, during his 70th birthday celebrations last week.

Up to Two Trillion: Europe Plans to Leverage Euro-Zone Bailout Fund (Spiegel, Sep 24, 2012):

Officially, the ESM permanent euro-zone bailout fund is worth 500 billion euros. That, though, might not be enough, which is why euro-zone governments are now planning to introduce levers that could mobilize up to 2trillion euros, SPIEGEL has learned. Finland, though, is skeptical of the idea.

With the launch of the permanent common-currency bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), just around the corner, euro-zone member states are looking into ways to leverage the €500 billion ($647 billion) available to the fund, SPIEGEL has learned. But with Finland still concerned about the leveraging plans, it is unlikely that they will be initially included when the ESM is launched on Oct. 8.

The plan envisions the continuation of leverage instruments currently in use in the temporary euro bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). Should they be applied to the ESM, the permanent fund could be able to mobilize up to €2 trillion instead of the €500 billion lending capacity it currently has — a size that would make it easier to provide emergency aid to countries as large as Spain and Italy, for example.


Google translation (Original article in German down below.):

Quadrupling of the euro rescue fund: ESM should be leveraged to two trillion euros (Focus, Sep 24, 2012):

The euro countries prepare before one allegedly leverage the ESM permanent bailout fund. To save even large countries like Spain and Italy, as opposed to its planned 500 billion euros will be available two trillion euros.

Whether to increase the financial cushion reported the news magazine “Der Spiegel” on Monday. Model for the leverage of aid accordingly, the provisions of the predecessor fund EFSF. There are two tools in which the bailout fund with public money can only take on the most risky parts. The rest of the money will come from private investors, which must go into limited risk. However, the concept was the EFSF not apply because there are no private investors found.

Read moreAND NOW …. Quadrupling The Euro Bailout Fund: ESM To Be Leveraged To 2 TRILLION Euros (Focus/Spiegel)

Spain’s Latest Bailout Plan – Lottery Bonds

Spain’s Latest Bailout Plan – Lottery Bonds (ZeroHedge, Sep 23, 2012):

Just when we thought Europe has already used the kitchen sink and then some in its arsenal of bailout ideas, here comes Spain proving there is always “something else.” Bloomberg reports that the insolvent country which is not really insolvent as long as people keep buying its bonds on hopes it is insolvent, is launching “lottery bonds”. To wit: Spain to sell bonds through state-run lottery operator to fund regional bailouts, two people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg’s Esteban Duarte and Ben Sills. The issue is part of €6 billion financing through Sociedad Estatal Loterias & Apuestas del Estado which is raising syndicated loan. Loterias official said financing details haven’t been completed. In other words, the national lottery, which as in Spain so everywhere else, is nothing but an added tax on a country’s poor population but one which provides at least a tiny hope of a substantial repayment (which never happens for the vast, vast majority of players) so few actually complain about paying it, is about to shift the bailout cost to the nation’s poorest. Who benefits? Why Spiderman towel makers of course. And insolvent banks.

Read moreSpain’s Latest Bailout Plan – Lottery Bonds

Gerald Celente: Criminal Banksters Launching World War III (Video)


YouTube Added: 17.09.2012

If Nostradamus were alive today, he’d have a hard time keeping up with Gerald Celente.
– New York Post

When CNN wants to know about the Top Trends, we ask Gerald Celente.
– CNN Headline News

There’s not a better trend forecaster than Gerald Celente. The man knows what he’s talking about.
– CNBC

Those who take their predictions seriously … consider the Trends Research Institute.
– The Wall Street Journal

A network of 25 experts whose range of specialties would rival many university faculties.
– The Economist

Rajoy Says Spain May Not Need A Bail Out After All

Rajoy Says Spain May Not Need A Bail Out After All (ZeroHedge, Sep 12, 2012):

Europe’s chicken or egg problem is about to strike with a vengeance. As a reminder, the biggest paradox of the recently conceived “make it up as you go along” bailout of Europe is that “in order to be saved, Spain (and Italy) must first be destroyed“. Sure enough, the markets have long since priced in the “saved” part with the Spanish 10 year sliding to multi-month lows, but in the process everyone forgot about the destruction. Because as has been made quite clear, secondary market bond buying will not be activated without a formal bailout request by a country, in essence admitting its insolvency, and handing over domestic fiscal and sovereign control to the IMF and other international entities. As a further reminder, many, Goldman Sachs especially, had hoped that Spain would request a bailout as soon as Friday. To wit: “With a large (and uncovered) redemption looming at the end of October (and under pressure from other Euro area governments), we expect Spain to move towards seeking support.” Alas, as we expected, this is now not going to happen, and the pricing in of the entire “saved” part will have to be unwound as Spain is forced to accept being “destroyed” first. To wit: “I don’t know if Spain needs to ask for it,” Rajoy told parliament in a debate session, referring to an international rescue for Spain.”And ironically the further the market prices in salvation, the more unrealistic a bailout request becomes. In the meantime Spain is running out of cash, and what has been a buying euphoria may well becoming a selling revulsion as the market realizes that without the ECB’s explicit bond buying support, there is no reason to buy the bonds of a country with 25% unemployment, a massive budget deficit, an imploding housing market, and insolvent banking system. But who cares about details in a centrally-planned world.

From Reuters:

Spain continues to study the price it will have to pay for seeking help from the European Central Bank’s bond-buying programme but improved market conditions may make aid unecessary, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Wednesday.

“I don’t know if Spain needs to ask for it,” Rajoy told parliament in a debate session, referring to an international rescue for Spain.

Read moreRajoy Says Spain May Not Need A Bail Out After All

GM Loses Over $49,000 On Every Chevy Volt

GM Loses Over $49,000 On Every Chevy Volt (ZeroHedge, Sep 10, 2012):

Watching Phil LeBlow providing Ford with a reacharound this morning reminded us of total farce that is both the forest and the trees of the US auto industry. We have discussed the FUBAR channel-stuffing and the subprime-lending SNAFU but now, as Reuters reports, we see the ugly truth about GM’s little baby “the Volt is over-engineered and over-priced”. Nearly two years after the introduction of the path-breaking plug-in hybrid, GM is still losing as much as $49,000 on each Volt it builds….

Furthermore, there are some Americans paying just $5,050 to drive around for two years in a vehicle that cost as much as $89,000 to produce. And while the loss per vehicle will shrink as more are built and sold, GM is still years away from making money on the Volt, which will soon face new competitors from Ford, Honda and others.

Read moreGM Loses Over $49,000 On Every Chevy Volt