European regulators are desperate. The only thing known about the holes in bank balance sheets stuffed with decomposing assets is that they’re deep. No one knows how deep. No one is allowed to know – not until Eurocrats decide who will pay for bailing out these banks. How do we know? ECB President Mario Draghi said that.
Monthly Archives: October 2013
Next Step In Dismantling The Dollar And US Credit Hegemony
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Next Step In Dismantling The Dollar And US Credit Hegemony
The US has abused its three phenomenal privileges – including the control of the only world currency – to put global financial stability at risk, “like a truck full of dynamite heading right toward us,” said the chairman of the International Advisory Board of the Universal Credit Rating Group. But a “new financial order” is forming. And there’s a timeframe.
Multi-Trillion Dollar Question: How Much of Our Debt Is “Odious”?
by Don Quijones • • Comments Off on Multi-Trillion Dollar Question: How Much of Our Debt Is “Odious”?
By Don Quijones: If there is a two-word combination that strikes primal fear into the hearts of global senior bankers and representatives of international financial institutions, it is “odious” + “debt,” a legal theory that holds that the national debt incurred by a regime for purposes that do not serve the best interests of the nation shouldn’t be enforceable.
Why The Wall Street Casino Lives On
by David Stockman • • Comments Off on Why The Wall Street Casino Lives On
David Stockman lashes out at the LBO of Extended Stay, a scam that made Blackstone billions, and saddled taxpayers with the detritus. It’s perhaps the most brilliant explanation ever as to why the Fed bailouts of Wall Street were an asinine idea that benefited the “0.0001%” but hurt everyone else, including taxpayers and the main-street economy.
The Multi-Billion Dollar Reason Argentina Can’t Be Venezuela, Yet
by Bianca Fernet • • Comments Off on The Multi-Billion Dollar Reason Argentina Can’t Be Venezuela, Yet
Earnings Season Starts With A Bang, So To Speak
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Earnings Season Starts With A Bang, So To Speak
They’re getting hilarious, the shenanigans on Wall Street. Revenues have been lousy all year, and despite feverish cost cutting, earnings are sliding. The third quarter has been over for almost two weeks, but Q3 earnings estimates are still being pushed down. A lot! So that companies can “exceed expectations.” They’re now at stagnation levels. And stocks soar.
“Yellen Props Up Stocks” And Other Scary Data Points
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on “Yellen Props Up Stocks” And Other Scary Data Points
Alarm bells went off: “Yellen props stocks,” the headline read. Somebody needs to. Politicians are actively contemplating how to most effectively send the largest and brokest debtor in history into default. Corporate revenues can’t keep up with inflation. Earnings estimates and actual earnings growth plunge. And the S&P 500 soared 16% year to date.
Republicans Are Losing The Debt-Ceiling Publicity War
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Republicans Are Losing The Debt-Ceiling Publicity War
California To Grapple “Indefinitely” With Nuclear Hangover
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on California To Grapple “Indefinitely” With Nuclear Hangover
The costs of nuclear accidents can be catastrophic, for generations. But there are also the routine costs after reactors are shut down, when decommissioning expenses pile up, for timeframes beyond human comprehension. True costs are unknown. Now, the scandal-plagued San Onofre plant in Southern California has become a test case – indefinitely.