European stock markets are heading down again, extending the already dramatic losses which continue to sythe round and round the world, day after day. One much noted response to these losses, from the Fed, was to publish a somewhat petulant article admonishing all right-thinking citizens not to pay any attention to the unauthorized, rabble rousing …
Back in ’08 our politicians thought they had time. They no longer do. Time is NOT on their side now. Wednesday evening the DOW fell like a stone in the final 15 minutes of trading until it touched down to the low we were at in ’09. This is after several previous days of very …
It is very important right now for the EU and the ECB to have the world’s markets believe that Europe’s banks are NOT, repeat NOT weak, in debt, or in any danger of not being able to fund their day to day operations. Very important. In the last few days doubts about the health of …
Instead of asking what is pushing markets lower, for a change let’s search for what might give them reason to rise? Governments and markets HAVE to find reasons or they are lost. So far the downward market moves have been just the erosion of optimism. Actual pessimism has not yet gathered its own momentum. But …
The Shanghai Composite fell 4.3% today. That’s a pumelling by any standards. This happend for two reasons, both bad. The Conference Board, which is the New York based research group which monitors the Chinese economy, revised downwards it’s figure for how much the Chinese economy is growing from the 1.7% growth it reported on June …
The ECB’s ‘sterilization auction’ failed today. A corner stone of the ECB’s attempt to bail-out every bank in Europe BUT NOT to actually print any new euros to do it with, has collapsed. The ECB plan was this. Buy up any and all debts, lend to any and all who can’t get funding from anyone …
Events are over-taking me as well. This morning, the explosion of CDS costs moved from Greece, whose costs are already orbiting the planet anyway, to Spain, Italy and Hungary. Does that trio sound familiar? Why have debt insurance costs shot up? Because the 750 Billion Euro ‘shock and awe’ action hasn’t worked and won’t. Spain …
We are on the approaches to another serious bank lending crisis. Once again it will be talked about as a liquidity crisis and once again the underlying illness, insolvency caused by debt, will be studiously ignored. The financial doctors will treat the pustules but not the infection causing them. Our situation now, is we have …
The Bank of International Settlement (BIS) just had a press conference at the end of a two day meeting of the world’s Central Bankers. Here’s some of what they said. I had to check I hadn’t got confused and picked up last year’s press release by accident. I don’t know, you tell me if these …
If we carry on as we are, what is going to happen? It’s one of the simpler ‘what ifs’ we can ask. So lets. Can we get by with what we have spent and the debts we have incurred so far? If we do nothing in Europe more than has already been done, what will …
