German Vampires

"'We are not lazy; it's the Germans, they want to take our blood,' said Eleftherios Zarkados (Greek citizen)."

Source: CNN

"Organizations like the European Union are in the process of 'fragmenting'. During an upward trending mass social mood, we make peace and sign peace treaties. We form cooperative organizations during these times and merge currencies. Now, the tide has shifted. Keep an eye on the EU. As Greece, Spain, and others continue to feel 'the pain', their partners in the EU will continue to ask 'why are we being dragged down by them?'."

Random Roving, March 30, 2010

Regulatory Coordination

Printing money like mad-men is bad enough, but removing the "short" option really tells you something.
"Short-selling bans on selected European bank stocks have been extended by regulators until the end of September in an unprecedented degree of regulatory co-ordination."
Source: FT

And The Winner Is??

A current look at worldwide unemployment ranking.


Worldwide Unemployment



Source: Bespoke Investments

Hot Potatoes & Risk Transfers

"Bailouts for Ireland and Greece and speculation that Portugal and Spain may need aid are prompting investors to shun some of Europe’s highest-rated bonds. The cost of insuring German debt against default rose yesterday to the highest since May. The yield on 10-year French securities climbed to as much as 3.247 percent, the most in more than in six months, and the extra yield, or spread, investors demand to hold 10-year Belgian bonds instead of similar-maturity German bunds climbed to the most since at least 1993. More rescuing means a bigger bill for everyone and this partly explains the pressure on yields in some countries, including Germany,' said Elwin de Groot, a senior market economist at Rabobank Groep in Utrecht, Netherlands. 'Now we have the deal with Ireland, there’s speculation about whether we should rescue Portugal or even Spain after that. That’s creating an environment in which there’s going to be risk transfers.'"
Source: Bloomberg

"We are moving apart. Organizations like the European Union are in the process of "fragmenting". During an upward trending mass social mood, we make peace and sign peace treaties. We form cooperative organizations during these times and merge currencies. Now, the tide has shifted. Keep an eye on the EU. As Greece, Spain, and others continue to feel "the pain", their partners in the EU will continue to ask 'why are we being dragged down by them?'."

Random Roving, March 30, 2010

Unthinkable. Really??

"Contagion spreads from Ireland to Portugal and then to Spain, forcing European leaders to exhaust the $1 trillion bailout fund they set up only half a year ago to defend their ambitious single currency project.  Sniping within the 16-nation euro zone mounts and popular support for the euro erodes as German taxpayers rebel against a series of costly rescues and austerity fatigue in the bloc's periphery reaches breaking point.  Eventually one or more countries decide enough is enough and break away or are forced out, reintroducing the national currencies they used before tying their fate to Europe's audacious economic and monetary union.  Unthinkable only a few weeks ago, a small but growing number of experts now believe some version of this nightmare scenario could become a reality for the euro zone if policymakers fail to unite behind a more forceful strategy for saving the euro and address investor concerns about fiscal and economic imbalances."
Source: Reuters

Unthinkable only a few weeks ago??  Really???

"We are moving apart. Organizations like the European Union are in the process of "fragmenting". During an upward trending mass social mood, we make peace and sign peace treaties. We form cooperative organizations during these times and merge currencies. Now, the tide has shifted. Keep an eye on the EU. As Greece, Spain, and others continue to feel "the pain", their partners in the EU will continue to ask "why are we being dragged down by them?"."
Random Roving, March 30, 2010

Opa - Part 2

Greece continues to make the headlines.  The EU is squabbling and this bankrupt country is seeking a bailout from the EU and the IMF.  Wouldn't it be nice if the media provided some information leading up to these crises?  It would be helpful to hear about the "tremors" before the "big quake" occurs.
Random Roving presented the case in December, 2008.

"The weakest fall first with more to follow. The onion gets peeled back one layer of a time."
Random Roving - March 6, 2009 - "Peeling Back The Onion"