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Status Quo Catastrophe Is Served



Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/07/2012 08:07 -0400


From Mark Grant, author of Out Of The Box
CATASTROPHE

"Where we're going, it's gonna get colder than Hell."
-Five Easy Pieces

For those that wanted the world to remain in a status quo position it can only be said that the European elections over the weekend were a disaster and a disaster of the first magnitude. The anti-bank, anti-wealthy, anti-fiscal pact, anti-austerity Francois Hollande is to be the new President of France. “Merkozy” is now officially dead; long live the Chancellor. The close warm and fuzzy ties between France and Germany as they cooperated to rule Europe are now a thing of the past. In a second, what was; is now all gone. Finished and all of the King’s horses and all of the King’s men can’t put it back together again.

“It wasn’t just a story was it?”
-The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

Now that France has a Socialist President the story is not over, not even close to over as the next French elections, for Parliament, will roust the nation once more into the spotlight as Ms. Le Pen and her allies assume a new role, a higher ground, and as the financial situation in France deteriorates they may get an even bigger slice of the pie than thought at present. It is not just that Europe is going to be governed in a different fashion but that France will be run differently and with more difficulties I predict than currently thought. The recession and the anger directed at Germany are rousing the spirits once thought dead; France for the French, the Netherlands for the Dutch, Greece for the Greeks and soon we may find the same dreaded tale in Germany as Nationalism rings in the death knell for European unity and for the political parties that flaunted it. It is a rolling thunder all across Europe, that much is known, and the implications of it all will be felt by the people of each separate country. The dream is fading into the reality of a different sun and daylight will mask that which was dared to be dreamed years before.

"I do wish we could chat longer, but I'm having an old friend for dinner. Bye."
-The Silence of the Lambs

The Great Game

To date it has not been played out in the streets but at the ballot boxes. In Greece the second most winning party was not part of the prior coalition at all. Both of the heads of the two major parties in Greece are now calling for either a renegotiation of the Greek bailout package or to overturn it all together. This, my friends, is a recipe for disaster in my view and one that could lead Greece to exit its obligations with whatever calamities that will accompany that move. Quite soon it will come to renegotiate or default and that puts the Germans and the IMF in an untenable position. I fear it is going to become a quite serious game of “Chicken” pitting Greece against the previously formed dictates of austerity and the EU agreement to come up with another $14 billion in new savings by June; which will not be happening. On the other side of the argument Merkel cannot be seen as backing down without a tremendous loss of credibility in her own country so the stage is set for a tragedy of the first order with either a default within the Eurozone or outside of it as Germany could end up demanding that Greece exits or Greece could preempt them and do it themselves. The Lords of Chaos have returned.

"Nobody's looking for a puppeteer in today's wintry economic climate."
-Being John Malkovich

America: The Knock-In Effects

To think that the United States will not be affected by the recession in Europe is fantasy. As the economies on the Continent worsen caused, in part, by the austerity measures then it will be both Germany and America that will suffer as the cutback in demand for both goods and services has a telling effect. Then as Germany and France march to different drummers and as Greece could default on its obligations and send shockwaves through the EU, the ECB and the IMF given the losses they would all have to take; the scenario for America being led back into recession squares. The world is also facing a wholesale downgrade of the banks by Moodys which will cause a very unlevel playing field with the banks thought safe, a small group now, being able to fund with relative ease while the rest of the banks struggle with funding and at levels that will certainly impact their earnings. I imagine that all of this will not help Mr. Obama and that Mr. Romney’s cause will be assisted by the impending economic downturn in America as we roll into the Presidential elections in November.

“Fasten your seatbelts---it’s going to be a bumpy night.”
-All about Eve


Status Quo Catastrophe Is Served | ZeroHedge

On the Ground in Paris... It Ain't Euro Positive



Submitted by Phoenix Capital Research on 05/07/2012 04:30 -0400

With so much hanging in the balance, I went to Paris, France to witness the results of the French elections first hand. I arrived Sunday morning, May 6^th, the day of the second round of the election, which pitted Socialist Francois Hollande against Angela Merkel’s right hand man, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Everything was relatively quiet until the late afternoon. But once the elections were announced, the became jammed. Literally. By the look of things, French youth are celebrating Hollande’s victory by picking up all of their friends and then driving up and down the streets honking their horns incessantly. Most cars were packed to the brim with passengers hanging out of every window and even the sunroof waving French flags, singing, or simply yelling pro-Hollande slogans.

Indeed, at times traffic intersections become gridlocked as some cars simply parked in the middle of the street so their passengers could get on top of the vehicle and hang out (a few of them even lit cigarettes like they were sitting on a terrace instead of the roof of a fiat).

The Euro has taken the news much more poorly, gapping down sharply in the overnight session to below critical support at 1.30.

Stocks… are collapsing. The S&P 500 futures have gapped down from 1,360 to 1,346 as I write this Sunday night.

This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Virtually every poll showed Hollande winning the election. And how exactly is the election of a socialist who proposed the following Euro-positive…

1. Proposed raising tax rates on high-income earners from 41% to 75%.

1. Wants to lower the retirement age to 60.

1. Completely goes against the recent new EU fiscal requirements Merkel just convinced 17 EU members to agree to and has promised to try and renegotiate them to be looser.

Oh, and Greece also had an election which saw its Parliament swing in favor or anti-bailouts/ anti-austerity measures.

Remember, politics, not economics, rule Europe. What I mean by this is that most major decisions in Europe are determined by political agendas that ignore economic and financial realities.

This is at the core of the “welfare state” mentality that permeates Europe as a whole. The EU in general is comprised of an aging population that is more concerned about receiving the pensions/ health benefits/ social payouts that were promised to them by the system than anything else.

As a result of this, EU voters, who determine EU elections, don’t take action until what has promised to them comes under threat.

For this reason, EU political leaders will maintain their agendas regardless of whether said agendas go against financial or economic realities (or common sense for that matter) until these agendas begin to have real negative consequences for their political careers.

Well, we’re now at the point at which there are MASSIVE political consequences for the pro-bailout/ austerity measures political agenda. Which means… it’s only a matter of time before the EU in its current form collapses.

On that note, I fully believe the EU in its current form is in its final chapters. Whether it’s through Spain imploding or Germany ultimately pulling out of the Euro, we’ve now reached the point of no return: the problems facing the EU (Spain and Italy) are too large to be bailed out. There simply aren’t any funds or entities large enough to handle these issues.

So if you’re not already taking steps to prepare for the coming collapse, you need to do so now. I recently published a report showing investors how to prepare for this. It’s called How to Play the Collapse of the European Banking System and it explains exactly how the coming Crisis will unfold as well as which investment (both direct and backdoor) you can make to profit from it.

This report is 100% FREE. You can pick up a copy today at: http://www.gainspainscapital.com

Good Investing!

Graham Summers

PS. We also feature numerous other reports ALL devoted to helping you protect yourself, your portfolio, and your loved ones from the Second Round of the Great Crisis. Whether it’s a US Debt Default, runaway inflation, or even food shortages and bank holidays, our reports cover how to get through these situations safely and profitably.

On the Ground in Paris... It Ain't Euro Positive | ZeroHedge

The Spanish Bank Bailout Begins


Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/07/2012 07:01 -0400

It was only a matter of time before the next bank bailout began despite all those promises to the contrary. Sure enough, as math always wins over rhetoric and policy, earlier this morning the shot across the Spanish bow was fired after PM Rajoy did a 180 on "no bank bailout" promises as recent as last week. From Dow Jones: "Spain may pump public funds into its banking system to revive lending and its recessionary economy, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Monday, signalling a policy U-turn. The government had pledged to not give money to the banking industry that is struggling in the wake of a collapsed, decade-long, housing boom. "If it was necessary to reactivate credit, to save the Spanish financial system, I wouldn't rule out injecting public funds, like all European countries have done," Rajoy said in interview with Onda Cero radio stations. The weakness of Spain's banks is weighing on the economy that contracted 0.3% in the first and fourth quarters, meeting most economists' definition of a recession. The unemployment rate is at an 18-year high 24.4%, data showed April 27.

Banks have sharply reined in credit in the face of rapidly growing bad debt and problems getting finance on international markets." And explicitly we learn that Spain will inject EU7 bln of public funds via contingent-capital securities to support BFA-Bankia, El Confidencial reports, citing Economy Ministry officials it doesn’t name. It actually sounds cooler in the native: "El Estado inyectará 7.000 millones de dinero público para salvar BFA-Bankia." So it begins. Which also means that the "Bad Bank" idea is about to be launched. So far so good... The only problem is that like the EFSF, like the ESM, like the IMF, all those "deus ex machina(e)" also had to find funding of their own... and failed: it is one thing to intend to rescue the system. It is another to find the cash to do it with.

In the meantime, the process has already commecned:

• BANKIA SHARES FALL 4.8% IN MADRID
• SPANISH PLAN FOR BANKIA TO BE ANNOUNCED IMMINENTLY
• SPAIN TO CLEAN UP BANKIA, CHANGE MANAGEMENT, OFFICIAL SAYS
• SPAIN IS WORKING ON PLAN FOR BANKIA, GOVT OFFICIAL SAYS

From Reuters:

Spanish Prime Minister said on Monday he would use public funds to rescue the country's banks, but only as a last resort. He said an announcement on government plans for the banks would come on Friday.

Spain has already spent more than 18 billion euros ($23.61 billion) to clean up its banks, which were highly exposed to a property sector crash four years ago.

The banks have been forced into several waves of mergers and to recognize more than 50 billion euros in losses related to property lending and assets.
...

A Spanish government and Bank of Spain plan to reform Bankia will involve major changes at the bank's management, government and Bank of Spain sources told Reuters on Monday.

"The plan is being finalised by the Economy Ministry and the Bank of Spain. It will include major changes in the management," a government source said.

The source also said the Spanish government would approve on Friday the guidelines for setting up holding companies to park and sell off toxic real estate assets, including a framework to create 10- to 15-year "bad banks".

A source from the Bank of Spain said that the plan for Bankia, which is likely to stick to its stand-alone strategy after the intervention, includes the possibility of asset sales.

"The possibility of strenghtening the balance sheet through asset sales is on the table," the source said.

And more from DJ:

The ministry official added that the government and central bank are studying a specific clean-up plan for Bankia SA (BKIA.MC) and parent company Banco Financiero y de Ahorros SA, which could include a shake up of their management. Daily El Pais said Monday the government also plans an injection of state funds via convertible bonds with a rate of about 8%.

Bankia's parent, considered one of the weakest banks in the Spanish financial sector, recently carried out a EUR2.75 billion write-down of the group's assets by lowering the value of its real-estate holdings.

A Bankia spokesman declined to comment.

Spain's central bank estimates the country's banks' total exposure to the country's ailing real estate industry at EUR338 billion, of which it considers some EUR176 billion problematic.

In new evidence of a deepening downturn, the local statistics agency said Monday that industrial output fell by 7.5% in a calendar-adjusted annual rate in March, after falling by 5.3% in February and by 4.4% in January.

Translated: since this plan is a stillborn failure, the countdown is now officially on to the Spanish PSI. Only this time around, unlike in the case of Greece, one wonders how Merkel will spin the German funding in continent that no longer cares about "austerity", i.e., deleveraging, and is all bout "growth", i.e., ramping up debt issuance to the max.

The Spanish Bank Bailout Begins | ZeroHedge

Seriously REALLY SERIOUSLY what do YOU think would have happened IF a Caucasian

President had ever produced and published a You Tube Video for ALL WHITE PEOPLE to unite for a

WHITE PRESIDENT.

This is the MOST SIGNIFICANT DEMONSTRATION of INTENTIONAL

DIVISIVE RACISM by ANY PRESIDENT in the history of OUR COUNTRY.

it is DESPICABLE!

*********************************

Whose President IS HE?

THIS IS A DANGEROUS VIDEO.

Obama Announces the 2012 Launch of African

Americans for Obama this is what racism smells like. It can't be

explained away.

Can you imagine Santorum or Romney or Newt or Paul putting out a

call for all the white brothers and sisters to vote for him because

he's white and so are they?



President Obama Announces the 2012 Launch of African Americans for Obama - YouTube










President Obama Announces the 2012 Launch of African Americans for Obama - YouTube

The Globalist's DESTROYED the EU

Just like they Took this country down INTENTIONALLY

There is way too much info to back this up

FIRE THEM; then put there corrupt ass on trial

actually, put Tiny Sarko on Trial in Libya .. see how that works for the globalists

Merkel’s Party Humiliated by Shock Election Defeat

Posted by: Soren Dreier

Angela Merkel’s ruling conservatives suffered a humiliating defeat in key elections in Germany’s most populous state yesterday when voters rejected her party’s austerity policies and handed a resounding victory to her pro-growth Social Democratic Party opponents.

Ms Merkel’s Christian Democrats were shell-shocked by the devastating result they returned in the poll in North Rhine Westphalia, which has a total population of 18 million. Exit polls showed that they secured a mere 25.5 per cent of the vote – their worst performance ever in the state.

Germany’s conservative Environment Minister, Norbert Röttgen, the party’s candidate in the election, had mounted a vigorous campaign centred on Ms Merkel’s austerity policies, which aimed to cut the state’s €230 billion debt.

“Today is a very bitter day,” Mr Röttgen conceded last night. “We have been clearly defeated.”

By contrast, the pro-growth Social Democrats and their candidate Hannelore Kraft, 50, romped home with 38 per cent of the vote. They were expected to form a so-called Red-Green coalition with the environmentalist Greens who won around 12 per cent of the vote. The two parties secured enough seats to obtain an absolute majority in the state parliament.

The conservatives campaigned in the run-up to the poll with an inflatable rubber “debt mountain” to illustrate the region’s financial problems. By contrast, Mrs Kraft dismissed rigid saving programmes in favour of growth and insisted that her aim was “putting people first”.

Elections in North Rhine Westphalia are considered a key indicator of national voting intentions. Andrea Nahles, the general secretary of Germany’s Social Democrats, insisted that the result paved the way for the ousting of Angela Merkel in Germany’s general election next year.

There were even suggestions last night that Mrs Kraft, whose political style has been compared to that of Ms Merkel, could run for the post of Social Democrat Chancellor candidate in next year’s election.

Ms Merkel’s liberal Free Democrat coalition partners were able to avoid a feared electoral disaster and managed to gain 8 per cent of the vote – enough for the party to avoid being left without enough votes to win seats in the state parliament.

Yesterday’s result was the second major poll setback for Ms Merkel’s conservatives within the space of a week. In elections in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, her Christian Democrats secured their lowest share of the vote in over 50 years.

The conservatives’ slide began last year when they suffered one of their worst-ever blows in the prosperous southern state of Baden-Württemberg, where they were ousted from power for the first time since the early 1950s by a coalition of Greens and the Social Democrats.

The conservatives are currently in power in six of Germany’s 17 federal states. Yet despite the growing unpopularity of her own party, on a personal level Ms Merkel continues to rate as one of Germany’s most respected Chancellors ever.

Merkel's party humiliated by shock election defeat

‘Uncommitted’ Steals Over 40% of Vote from Obama in Kentucky Primary

Posted on May 23, 2012 at 7:39am
by Jonathon M. Seidl
Comments (23)

Obama might want to pay attention.

Some presidential primary voters in Kentucky and Arkansas are taking a swipe at President Barack Obama, denying the incumbent nearly 4 out of every 10 votes cast on the Democratic side.

In Kentucky’s closed primary, about 42 percent of registered Democrats who voted selected “uncommitted.” New York Mag, which tries to sell the Obama win as “commanding,” explains:

On the Democratic side, Barack Obama managed a commanding 57.9 percent of the vote, losing 41.2 percent to the ballot option known as Uncommitted, or Merle Uncommitted, or John Q. Uncommitted, or Paul Uncommitted, depending on your taste. Consider the message received, Kentucky.

John Wolfe

In Arkansas’ open primary, voters could select a ballot for either party. Early returns showed a Tennessee attorney, John Wolfe, drawing about 40 percent on the Democratic side.

So who is Wolfe? He’s pretty left-wing, and last visited the state in March. Talking Points Memo has more:

The would-be spoiler in Arkansas is Tennessee lawyer John Wolfe, a perennial candidate who was also on the ballot in New Hampshire and Louisiana, the latter of which gave him 12 percent of the vote. Buzz has been building that Wolfe could take a larger share of the vote in Arkansas — based largely on a Talk Business-Hendrix College Poll from May 10 that showed Obama leading 45 percent to 38 percent in Arkansas’s largely rural 4th Congressional District.

Unlike, Judd, who is in prison, Wolfe is campaigning, even though the state Democratic Party has already said it will not award him any delegates to the national convention no matter how many votes he gets. Wolfe hasn’t had the money for TV or radio ads, but he has been calling people in Arkansas and says he bought some newspaper inserts, according to an interview Wolfe gave to Wikinews. According to a National Review story, the last time he visited Arkansas was in March.

The conservative media has gotten a kick out of Wolfe’s candidacy and its potential to embarrass Obama, but Wolfe’s positions are even further to the left of the president. On his campaign website, he argues that Obama has been “dominated” by “the Pentagon, Wall Street, and corporations.” He calls for reform, “not war and austerity.” Wolfe called the stimulus a “good start” that ultimately “wasn’t enough” in the Wikinews interview. Wolfe has one pledged delegate so far in Arkansas, 78-year-old Bill Conway, who says he supports Wolfe because of his strong stance against Wall Street.

The results in either state will not hamper Obama‘s effort to gain the party’s nomination for a second term. Still, it‘s a bit embarrassing for the Democratic Party and highlights Obama’s political weakness in Southern states.

Two weeks ago, a federal inmate in Texas — Keith Judd — earned 41 percent of the vote in West Virginia’s Democratic primary. That win exposed a possible weakness in the president’s ability to connect with some Southern voters.

FILE - This image provided by Keith R. Judd shows the federal prisoner Keith Russell Judd, 49, at the Beaumont Federal Correctional Institution in Beaumont, Texas in this March 15, 2008 file photo. Just how unpopular is President Barack Obama in some parts of the country? Enough that Keith R. Judd in prison in Texas got 4 out of 10 votes in West Virginia's Democratic presidential primary. (AP Photo/ The Beaumont Enterprise courtesy of Keith R. Judd)

“Arkansas voters are informed voters and are fully aware that John Wolfe will not make it out of the primary,” one “well-connected” Arkansas Democrat told the Washington Post. “However, if John Wolfe has a strong showing tomorrow, it’s a sign that Democratic voters in Arkansas are frustrated with the administration’s policies and further reiteration that Southern Democrats simply cannot identify with President Obama.”
Consider them frustrated.

The Associated Press contribute to this report.

‘Uncommitted’: Democratic Primary Results in Kentucky and Arkansas Show Obama Weakness | TheBlaze.com

BTTT ... this needs another go around