Month: June 2015

Greece Becomes First Developed Country To Default To The IMF

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euro-domino

– Greece Becomes First Developed Country To Default To The IMF (ZeroHedge, June 30, 2015):

Faced with almost impossible choices…

Greece

And just as promised earlier in the week, Greece has now passed the midnight deadline for repayment of the €1.6 billion bundled loans due to the IMF and in thus in default. 

Yes we are fully aware that using the pejorative term ‘default’ makes us members of the ignorati, but what else do you call it when you fail to pay back a contracted debt in a timely fashion? (and don’t say ‘arrears’) Anything else is semantics.

  • *IMF SAYS GREECE FAILED TO MAKE PAYMENT DUE TUESDAY
  • *IMF TO CONSIDER GREEK REQUEST FOR PAYMENT DELAY IN DUE COURSE
  • *IMF BOARD INFORMED THAT GREECE IS NOW IN ARREARS

“I can also confirm that the IMF received a request today from the Greek authorities for an extension of Greece’s repayment obligation that fell due today, which will go to the IMF’s Executive Board in due course,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice says in e-mailed statement.

This is the first time an advanced economy has defaulted to The IMF and is by far the largest default The IMF has ever faced.

Read moreGreece Becomes First Developed Country To Default To The IMF

Greece Asks For 2-Year Bailout From ESM, Merkel Promptly Shoots It Down

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–  Greece Asks For 2-Year Bailout From ESM, Merkel Promptly Shoots It Down (ZeroHedge, June 30, 2015):

Update 3: Merkel keeps pouring it in. Bloomberg reports tthat German Chancellor Angela Merkel says at event in Berlin that offer from Greek government over bailout program “cannot be clearly identified.”

“Greece has decided that the program will expire at midnight tonight. We have made clear today: There are new offers today which cannot be clearly identified, negotiations which we cannot specify. Before the planned referendum will be held, we will not discuss negotiate anything new.”

Update 2: The Greferendum cancellation calls have begun and Greece has now effectively applied for a DIP loan.

  • GREECE MUST CANCEL REFERENDUM TO ALLOW PROPOSAL AIRING: GABRIEL
  • GABRIEL: GREEK TALKS CAN RESUME QUICKLY IF REFERENDUM KILLED
  • GREECE REQUESTS LOAN EXCLUSIVELY FOR MEETING DEBT PAYMENTS: DOC
  • GREECE REQUESTS BAILOUT EXTENSION TO AVERT DEFAULT: DOCUMENT

Update: EU finance ministers will reportedly hold a teleconference shortly to decide on Greece’s bid for an ESM loan. “Group of euro-area finance ministers have responsibility to choose whether to approve Greece’s bid for two-year bailout program from European Stability Mechanism,” Bloomberg reports, citing an unnamed EU official.

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Argentina Plans Asset Seizure Of Falkland Oil Companies

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– Argentina Plans Asset Seizure Of Falkland Oil Companies (OilPrice, June 29, 2015):

Is it just election fever, or is Argentina serious about reclaiming the Falklands Islands?

Presidential elections loom in the country in October, so perhaps it’s not surprising that a Lilian Herraez, a federal judge in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina’s southernmost region, ordered the seizure of $156 million in property and bank holdings of oil drilling companies, including Noble Energy of the United States.

The government in Buenos Aires said on June 27 that the other targets of asset seizures were Edison International of Italy and three British-based companies, Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd., Premier Oil Plc and Rockhopper Exploration Plc.

Read moreArgentina Plans Asset Seizure Of Falkland Oil Companies

In Big Boost To “No” Vote, Schauble Hints Greece Can Default And Stay In Euro

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– In Big Boost To “No” Vote, Schauble Hints Greece Can Default And Stay In Euro (ZeroHedge, June 30, 2015):

In waht appears to be some level of German backing down, fiery FinMin Schaeuble has, reportedly said the following:

*SCHAEUBLE SAID TO SAY GREECE MAY BE ABLE TO TAP EU SUPPORT FUND
*SCHAEUBLE SAID TO SEE GREECE STAYING IN EURO EVEN IF ‘NO’ VOTE

Thus spurring the probability of a consequence-less “no” vote on Sunday enabling the increased negotiating position that The Greek government had hoped for. Of course, desperate for any excuse, stocks and EUR are rallying on this and bonds are selling off.

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Varoufakis Confirms Greece Will Default To IMF Today

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– Varoufakis Confirms Greece Will Default To IMF Today (ZeroHedge, June 30, 2015):

May as well spoil the ending of what happens at midnight local time today. Nothing (as previously reported). From Reuters:

  • GREEK FINANCE MINISTER SAYS GREECE WILL NOT PAY IMF ON TUESDAY.

Visually:

varoufakis finger

AP has the well-known by now details:

Read moreVaroufakis Confirms Greece Will Default To IMF Today

Russia to ban Coca-Cola and Pepsi

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coca-cola-pepsi

– Russia to ban Coca-Cola and Pepsi (Pravda, June 26, 2015):

Russian State Duma deputies offer to ban Coca-Cola and Pepsi import to Russia in addition to the food embargo.

Igor Zotov claims that the beverage producers fund main political forces of the US.

Read moreRussia to ban Coca-Cola and Pepsi

The Mood On The Ground In Greece: “Some Have Raised The Prospect Of Civil War”

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– The Mood On The Ground In Greece: “Some Have Raised The Prospect Of Civil War” (ZeroHedge, June 29, 2015):

Earlier today, John O’Connell, CEO of Davis Rea, spoke to Canada’s BNN from what may be Greece’s top tourist attraction, the island of Santorini, to give a sense of the “mood on the ground.” Not surprisingly, his feedback was that, at least as far as tourists are concerned, nobody is worried. After all, it is not their funds that are capital constrained plus should the Drachma return as the local currency, the purchasing power of foreigners will skyrocket.

What he did point out, however, that was quite notable is the diametrically opposing views between old and young Greeks when it comes to Grexit. According to O’Connell, “the old people want to vote for Europe cause they have a lot to lose, they have their pensions, but the younger population – they are already poor, they are already unemployed – and they don’t have much to lose. Their attitude is it’s going to be tough, it’s already tough, and so why not just move on go back to the Drachma, and they’re ok with that. Their attitude is in 5 to 10 years I’ll be better off. They believe there’s a lot of misinformation. They believe they’re being pressured by European countries particularly Germany that are holding them to very difficult terms.”

Read moreThe Mood On The Ground In Greece: “Some Have Raised The Prospect Of Civil War”

Vladimir Putin ‘wants’ to reinstate Russia’s royal family and bring back the Tsars

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Russia-royal-family-Vladimir-Putin-Romanov
The Romanov family’s extraordinary return would aim to give the Kremlin a role in unifying Russia

– Vladimir Putin ‘wants’ to reinstate Russia’s royal family and bring back the Tsars (Express, June 24, 2015):

VLADIMIR PUTIN ‘wants’ to reinstate the Russian royal family and move them into an ancient palace once occupied by the last Tsar Nicholas II.

The Romanov family’s extraordinary return would not threaten the rule of the Kremlin strongman but would aim to give them a role in unifying Russia.

The move proposed by Vladimir Petrov, a law maker from Putin’s party, has prompted speculation that it has the Russian leader’s direct approval.

Read moreVladimir Putin ‘wants’ to reinstate Russia’s royal family and bring back the Tsars

The Emergence Of Orwellian Newspeak And The Death Of Free Speech

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George-Orwell

– The Emergence of Orwellian Newspeak and the Death of Free Speech (Rutherford Institute, June 29, 2015):

“If you don’t want a man unhappy politically, don’t give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none. Let him forget there is such a thing as war. If the government is inefficient, top-heavy, and tax-mad, better it be all those than that people worry over it…. Give the people contests they win by remembering the words to more popular songs or the names of state capitals or how much corn Iowa grew last year. Cram them full of noncombustible data, chock them so damned full of ‘facts’ they feel stuffed, but absolutely ‘brilliant’ with information. Then they’ll feel they’re thinking, they’ll get a sense of motion without moving. And they’ll be happy, because facts of that sort don’t change.” ? Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

How do you change the way people think? You start by changing the words they use.

In totalitarian regimes—a.k.a. police states—where conformity and compliance are enforced at the end of a loaded gun, the government dictates what words can and cannot be used. In countries where the police state hides behind a benevolent mask and disguises itself as tolerance, the citizens censor themselves, policing their words and thoughts to conform to the dictates of the mass mind.

Read moreThe Emergence Of Orwellian Newspeak And The Death Of Free Speech

Strap In! China Is Crashing Again

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20150629_china_1

–  Strap In! China Is Crashing Again (ZeroHedge, June 29, 2015):

In the last 2 days, PBOC has thrown everything at the ponzi-fest they call a rational market. An RRR cut, a Benchmark rate cut, a rev repo rate cut, a CNY50 Bn rev repo injection, a stamp duty cut, IPO halts (cut supply), and last but not least permission to speculate with a reassurance that shares on a solid foundation. The outcome of all this policy-panic – CHINEXT (China’s Nasdaq) is down another 6% today (down 25% in 3 days) and aside from CSI-300 futures, all other major Chinese indices are in free-fall. Add to that the fact that industrial metals are collapsing with steel rebar limit down and it appears Central Bank Omnipotence is under threat.

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china-crash

French Economy In “Dire Straits”, “Worse Than Anyone Can Imagine”, Leaked NSA Cable Reveals

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France-Time-Bomb

– French Economy In “Dire Straits”, “Worse Than Anyone Can Imagine”, Leaked NSA Cable Reveals (ZeroHedge, June 29, 2015):

Earlier today Wikileaks released a new batch of NSA intercepts among which one in particular stands out: an intercepted communication which reveals that then French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici believes the French economic situation was far worse, as of mid-2012, than perceived.

Specifically, Moscovici who served as French finance minister until 2014 and then became European commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs, used some very colorful language, i.e., the French economic situation was “worse than anyone [could] imagine and drastic measures [would] have to be taken in the next two years”. 

Read moreFrench Economy In “Dire Straits”, “Worse Than Anyone Can Imagine”, Leaked NSA Cable Reveals

Puerto Rico Announces Bond Payment “Moratorium”

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– Puerto Rico Announces Bond Payment “Moratorium” (ZeroHedge, June 29, 2015):

Having concluded last night that Puerto Rico debt is “unpayable,” and that his government could not continue to borrow money to address budget deficits while asking its residents, already struggling with high rates of poverty and crime, to shoulder most of the burden through tax increases and pension cuts, Padilla confirmed tonight that: PUERTO RICO TO SEEK “NEGOTIATED MORATORIUM”, ‘YEARS’ OF POSTPONEMENT IN DEBT PAYMENTS. Likening his state’s situation to that of Detroit and New York City (though not Greece), Padilla concluded, the economic situation is “extremely difficult,” which is odd because just a few years ago when they issued that bond – everything was awesome?

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Greece Threatens ‘Unprecedented’ Injunction Against EU To Block Grexit

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Alexis-Tsipras

– Greece Threatens ‘Unprecedented’ Injunction Against EU To Block Grexit (ZeroHedge, June 29, 2015):

Having told the citizens of Greece that the European leaders will not kick them out of Europe because “the cost of throwing them out is too high, enormous,” it appears Greek PM Tspiras has another plan to ensure – no matter what the outcome of the forthcoming referendum – that there is no actual Grexit. As The Telegraph reports, Greece has threatened to seek a court injunction against the EU institutions, saying “we are taking advice and will certainly consider an injunction at the European Court of Justice. The EU treaties make no provision for euro exit and we refuse to accept it. Our membership is not negotiable.“

Speaking earlier Tsipras stated:

Read moreGreece Threatens ‘Unprecedented’ Injunction Against EU To Block Grexit

“Retired” Dallas Fed Chief Joins Barclays As “Senior Advisor”

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revolving-door

 

– “Retired” Dallas Fed Chief Joins Barclays As “Senior Advisor” (ZeroHedge, June 29, 2015):

Spin revolving door, spin.

Recently “retired” Dallas Fed chief Richard Fisher — who really, really believed that talk of falling oil prices negatively affecting the Texas economy amounted to “bull droppings” until a JP Morgan analyst reminded him that the “only thing dropping in the Texas economy [was] jobs” — is following proudly in the footsteps of Ben Bernanke, Jeremy Stein, and Janet Yellen (if you count unofficial, off-the-record ‘consultations’) by becoming the latest Fed policymaker to ink a lucrative deal ‘advising’ the private sector.

As WSJ reports, Fisher will become a “senior advisor” to Barclays starting on July 1:

Read more“Retired” Dallas Fed Chief Joins Barclays As “Senior Advisor”

ECB Says “Grexit Can No Longer Be Excluded”, Hints At More QE

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draghis-bazooka

– ECB Says “Grexit Can No Longer Be Excluded”, Hints At More QE (ZeroHedge, June 29, 2015):

It seems Goldman Sachs’ conspiracy theory was right all along…

ECB’S COEURE SAYS ECB IS EVEN READY TO USE NEW INSTRUMENTS, WITHIN ITS MANDATE
GREECE COULD EXIT EURO, COEURE SAYS IN LES ECHOS INTERVIEW

This is exactly what The ECB wanted all along (and their leaders overlords) – all they needed was an ‘excuse’. Or, in the parlance of Rahm Emanuel’s times, “Let no Greek default crisis go to QE waste.”

This Insane Debt Chart Explains Why Chinese QE Is Inevitable

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ChinaLogalGovernmentSupply

– This Insane Debt Chart Explains Why Chinese QE Is Inevitable (ZeroHedge, June 29, 2015):

Last week we took an in-depth look at how China’s bewildering hodge-podge of hastily construed easing measures can’t seem to get out of their own way. Perhaps the most poignant example of this is how the country’s massive local government debt swap effort — which, as a reminder, aims to restructure a provincial government debt load that amounts to 35% of GDP — is effectively making it more difficult for the PBoC to keep a lid on rates, even as the central bank has embarked on a series of policy rate cuts, with the latest effort coming over the weekend. Here’s how we described the situation last week:

Read moreThis Insane Debt Chart Explains Why Chinese QE Is Inevitable

Iceland: Kaupþing executives jailed

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Kaupþing executives jailed

– Kaupþing executives jailed (Iceland Monitor, June 26, 2015):

Six defendants in the Kaupþing market manipulation case, the biggest case of this type in Iceland’s history, have been handed prison sentences ranging from one year to four years and six months.

By fully financing share purchases with no other surety than the shares themselves, the bank was accused of giving a false and misleading impression of demand for Kaupþingi shares by means of deception and pretence.

Former Director of Kaupþing, Ingólfur Helgason, is to be jailed for four years and six months.

The other sentences are as follows:

  • Bjarki Diego, former Credit Manager: two years and six months
  • Ein­ar Pálmi Sig­munds­son, former Director of Proprietary Trading: two years (suspended)
  • Birn­ir Sær Björns­son and Pét­ur Krist­inn Guðmars­son, proprietary trading executives: eighteen months (suspended)
  • Sig­urður Ein­ars­son, former Kaupþing board chairman: one year

Hreiðar Már Sig­urðsson, former Director of the bank, received no further penalty, having previously been sentenced in the ‘Al-Thani affair’.

The two remaining defendants, Björk Þór­ar­ins­dótt­ir and Magnús­ Guðmunds­son­, were acquitted of all or most charges.

Is the American Youth Ready for Conscription?

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– Are the American Youth Ready for Conscription? (Sputnik, June 26, 2015):

The shining future that America once had is all but a page note in the history books now. Record numbers not in the workforce, failed foreign policies and domestic strife is the new normal. And how is the brain trust in DC going to solve these problems? National service for all 18 – to 28-year-olds!

All across the land, people were smiling and laughing. World War II had just ended and America suddenly found itself to be the manufacturing capital of the world. There were plenty of jobs for the average man and the future was bright, even if you didn’t have a college degree. In fact, not many people had a degree, and yet, for those that didn’t, they were still able to buy a car, a house, take several weeks of vacation a year and still be able to have food on the table. Although this was the new normal at the time, today’s new normal is something quite different.

Read moreIs the American Youth Ready for Conscription?

Greece Will Default To IMF Tomorrow, Government Official Says

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This-Is-Sparta

– Greece Will Default To IMF Tomorrow, Government Official Says (ZeroHedge, June 29, 2015):

Earlier today, as the exchange between Greece and its creditors got increasingly belligerent, Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Roivas told public broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhaaling in interview that a possible Greek decision to leave euro area wouldn’t soften stance of other EU countries and that Greece’s debt would still remain outstanding and creditors would expect this money back.”

“If Greece leaves, the value of their new national currency would decline very fast, so their solvency would still worsen further. They will either have to cut spending or improve their tax revenues. There are no other options.”

So did this latest antagonism change the Greek mind? According to a flash headline by the WSJ released moments ago, not all. In fact, Greece just made it official that it would default to the IMF in just over 24 hours.

Read moreGreece Will Default To IMF Tomorrow, Government Official Says

Russia Promises “Economic And Military” Aid To Syria As US Refloats Assad “Chemcial Weapons” Trial Balloon

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About time!

Putin chess

– Russia Promises “Economic And Military” Aid To Syria As US Refloats Assad “Chemcial Weapons” Trial Balloon (ZeroHedge, June 29, 2015):

It has been a while since the US State Department, with the help of the UK-funded and US-supported Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, floated doctored YouTube clips of hundreds of Syrians dead as a result of Assad’s chemical attacks. In fact, it has been almost exactly two years since the last time the US nearly launched an all out proxy war in Syria, one involving an axis of western powers and Qatar (whose natural gas this whole charade is all about) against another axis of Russia and China who were supportive of the Syrian government. Luckily, a last minute snafu by John Kerry allowed a de-escalation, which in turn resulted in the appearance of ISIS, whose entire purpose has been, as leaked Pentagon memos have revealed, to topple Assad.

And with collective memories short, and with the “diplomatic” playbook of the US State Department even shorter, the time has come to once again rekindle this particular fabulation.

Read moreRussia Promises “Economic And Military” Aid To Syria As US Refloats Assad “Chemcial Weapons” Trial Balloon

Has America reached a ‘blue screen of death’ moment? A hard reboot now seems inevitable…

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America-Blue-Screen

– Has America reached a ‘blue screen of death’ moment? A hard reboot now seems inevitable… (Natural News, June 27, 2015):

In just the last week alone, America’s politicians forfeited the nation’s economic future by secretly passing fast track trade authority, California lawmakers accepted bribes from Big Pharma to legalize mass medical genocide against blacks by passing the mandatory vaccination law SB 277, online retailers banned the Confederate flag while promoting Nazi symbolism, howling leftist maniacs began vandalizing historical monuments in cities like Austin Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that words have no meaning in law, and Apple yanked historical Civil War games from its app store because those games showed “Confederate imagery.”

As the United States of America remains inundated with Fukushima radiation and chemtrail geoengineering experiments, it has now surpassed $18 trillion in national debt. Nearly 50 million Americans are on government food stamps, and political correctness is now so insanely absurd that the University of California has ordered its professors to avoid using “offensive” phrases like “land of opportunity.”

These are all signs that America has entered the blue screen of death phase of civilization — that “memory dump” moment when everything stops working and the computer tries to figure out what happened before suddenly rebooting to BIOS and trying to reload the operating system.

Read moreHas America reached a ‘blue screen of death’ moment? A hard reboot now seems inevitable…