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| Europe |
| Greek Dog Squeeze Now Accepted At ECB |
| 2010-05-04 |
| Unbelievable: The European Central Bank joined the international rescue of Greece, saying it would indefinitely accept the country's debt as collateral regardless of its country's credit rating, underpinning gains in the bond market. For the uninitiated this means that the ECB will accept DEFAULTED Greek debt instruments, should it come to that. More bluntly, if Papandreou's dog drops a deuce in a box and he presents it to the ECB claiming that it's worth $10 billion, the ECB will in fact issue $10 billion in real, honest-to-God Euros against that box - no matter how badly it smells. That prompted Christoph Rieger, co-head of fixed-income strategy at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt, to say today's announcement “leaves a sour taste with regards to the ECB's long-term credibility.' The ECB has no credibility to lose at this point as it has now documented that the Euro is worth nothing at all as a currency, since it may be debased at will by Greece through the offering of worthless debt instruments into the ECB's clearing and margining system. The Euro is now free to descend toward zero, targeting in the intermediate term my Par price-point .vs. the dollar, and likely headed for well below that. Congratulations Europe, you have now demonstrated that your central bank is and has been issuing dog turds disguised as Euro bank notes. If Germany has an ounce of sense they will withdraw from the Euro and return to the Deutche Mark post-haste. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #7 The EU is not bailing out the Greeks, they are bailing out themselves. Most of the money is owed to European banks. If Greece defaults, the banks go under and the European bourses all tank. They'll cough up money to bail out Greece now, and then when things quiet down, they'll kick them out of the Euro zone. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2010-05-04 22:12 |
| #6 They don't seem at all worried about investors selling or even shorting the Euro. Why should they? A falling Euro stimulates exports. A big bonus for Germany, still the world's biggest exporter - not China as many think. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2010-05-04 19:43 |
| #5 They don't seem at all worried about investors selling or even shorting the Euro. Curious, I wonder what they know that we don't. |
| Posted by: Rupert Theamble6433 2010-05-04 13:17 |
| #4 From another article today found on Yahoo: --"There is no faith in what the EU and the IMF have proposed for Greece," said Dean Popplewell, chief currency strategist at OANDA, a foreign exchange brokerage in Toronto. "Capital markets are betting on a Greek default, as Greece's own populace is not going to accept the terms of this rescue, and contagion is a real concern hurting the euro," he said. --"These government measures are destroying my life," said Panagiota Katsagani, a 25-year-old part-time school teacher who was marching in Athens on Tuesday. "I was planning my future, now I have to go back and live with my parents." -- Some newspaper editorials said the bailout was more a rescue for European banks holding Greek debt than one of ordinary Greeks. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-05-04 11:48 |
| #3 If Germany has an ounce of sense they will withdraw from the Euro and return to the Deutche Mark post-haste. Easy to write, not easy to do. Several German banks have already been nationalized. Before the Greek crisis became acute, German banks were already holding a lot of Greek (and other PIIGS) debt of doubtful value. Withdrawing from the Euro wouldn't change that situation. Withdrawing from insolvency & undergoing deflation are both very painful. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-05-04 11:43 |
| #2 The ECB's acceptance of worthless Greek debt instruments is on a par with the Federal Reserve's acceptance of worthless mortgage-backed securities. Both are part of the modern shuck-and-jive global economy. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-05-04 11:31 |
| #1 it appears that a third of the bailout will come from the IMF. the U.S. taxpayer use to finance about 40% of that or in this case the US will borrow $15B from the chicoms to help pay for the Greek union members pensions. |
| Posted by: bman 2010-05-04 10:47 |