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.
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.
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.
Fed: Hedge Funds, Banks Sell Crappiest Debt To Small Investors (Before Credit Bubble Blows Up)
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Fed: Hedge Funds, Banks Sell Crappiest Debt To Small Investors (Before Credit Bubble Blows Up)
In its report on shadow banking, the New York Fed buried some nuggets: Hedge funds and banks are bailing out of the highest-risk “opaque” but now relatively low-yielding loans – low yielding thanks to the Fed’s repressive monetary policies – by selling them to small investors via harmless-sounding and conservative-appearing mutual funds and ETFs.
Americans Despise Congress, Their Economic Confidence Plunges, And Now They Slash Spending
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Americans Despise Congress, Their Economic Confidence Plunges, And Now They Slash Spending
It is starting to show up in the numbers: the debt-ceiling and government-shutdown debacles are worming their way into the economy. Americans blame the already single most disparaged institution, Congress, for it and have started to react economically. Clicks of seatbelts being fastened can be heard around the world.
Which Law To Break If The Debt Ceiling Isn’t Raised?
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Which Law To Break If The Debt Ceiling Isn’t Raised?
That’s the question for Treasury Secretary Lew and Fed Chairman Bernanke during the debt-ceiling charade; it seems they’re boxed into a contradictory situation where one of them will have to break one of the laws, whether they want to or not, writes Vincent Reinhart, managing director at Morgan Stanley and former head of the Fed’s monetary division.
Oktoberfest Dips Into Beer Recession
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Oktoberfest Dips Into Beer Recession
The Oktoberfest, one of the biggest beer binge events in the world, is closely watched for economic trends. Alas, this year was the second year in a row when, despite Teutonic organizational ingenuity and marketing muscle, the number of visitors and, most crucially, beer consumption “unexpectedly” dropped (as if we didn’t have enough bad news already).