APR 15 SIT EC y POL
ZERO HEDGE
The
Collapse Of The Petrodollar: Oil Exporters Are Dumping US Assets At A Record
Pace. Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/15/2015. Back in November we
chronicled the (quiet) death of the Petrodollar, the system that has buttressed
USD hegemony for decades by ensuring that oil producers recycled their dollar
proceeds into still more USD assets creating a very convenient (if your
printing press mints dollars) self-fulfilling prophecy that has effectively
underwritten the dollar’s reserve status in the post WWII era. Now, with oil
prices still in the doldrums, oil producers are selling off their USD assets in
a frenzy threatening the viability of petrocurrency mercantilism and
effectively extracting billions in liquidity from the system just as the Fed
prepares to hike rates.
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"Bonds
Don't Bring Breakups, Banks Do"; UBS Says Europe Risks Bank Runs On Grexit.
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/15/2015. How dire the
situation is in Greece becomes obvious from the following article by
documentary film maker Constantin Xekalos, posted on Beppe Grillo’s site. It
makes you wonder how Europe dare let this happen. How it could possibly have
insisted prior to the January elections that the Greeks should vote for the
incumbent government, and how someone like Eurogroup head Dijsselbloem could
ever have had the gall to point to “all the progress we’ve made”.
Greece, The Euro’s Greatest “Success” http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-04-15/weak-suffer-what-they-must-yanis-and-end-europe
.
Greece is a social disaster
zone. 3 million people are without guaranteed healthcare, 600,000 children are
living under the breadline and more than half of them are unable to meet their
daily nutritional needs. 90% of families living in the poorer areas rely on
food banks and feeding schemes for survival, and unemployment is approaching
30%, with youth unemployment approaching 60%. These are not just numbers, they
are real people. In order to show their faces and tell their stories, writer
and documentary film maker from Crete and now living in Florence, Constantin
Xekalos, decided to make a documentary film entitled: “Greece, the Euro’s
greatest success “. In today’s Passaparola he talks about this documentary film
and about the suffering of the Greek people that he has encountered in his
personal experience. Today it is all happening, but is Italy next?
The healthcare tragedy in
Greece When we made this documentary it was said that 1/3 of the
Greek population, (more than 3 million people,) were without any guaranteed
healthcare. In the interim that number has grown. They have been abandoned. If
you go to a hospital, obviously a public one, they will treat you and they will
accept you if it is an emergency, but if you are admitted, you then have to
pay. If you are unable to pay, they send the bill to the Receiver of Revenue’s
office and they take it from there. If you have no money, they start with
foreclosure, even your home , even if it is your only home!
This is crime against society
that is totally unacceptable. In an advanced and so-called democratic Country
that is part of the western world, things like this are totally inconceivable,
absurd and unacceptable. I repeat, this is crime against society that we
absolutely cannot accept! If you are ill, democracy guarantees the treatment
you need, otherwise it should be called by some other name. When a child is not
guaranteed the nutrition he/she needs, a mere helpless child, or elderly people
that are no longer able to look after themselves, then that is no longer
democracy. Some of the older Greeks were telling me that when the Germans were
there during the occupation in the Second World War, the people lived exactly
like they are living now.
The Greeks are dying of
hunger 90% of Greek families living in the poorer areas are obliged
to rely on food banks and feeding schemes in order to survive. Unfortunately
there are many in this situation. We toured a number of Athens’ districts and
in each and every district there is a square where good people, people who care
about others and truly have a sense of community have rolled up their sleeves
and, with the help of the Church, are providing meals for those who would
otherwise have nothing to eat. Every district has its own square. I saw
children passing out because of lack of food, but are too embarrassed to admit
it. We simply cannot accept this kind of thing. It’s a crime when children go
without food to eat. I will shout that from the rooftops until I burst and I
hope that they lay charges against me: it is a crime when a child cannot get
enough to eat!
The disappearance of the
Greek middle-class Many good people found themselves unemployed from
one day to the next, not through any fault of their own and not by choice, not
lazy people as they would have us believe. They want to work but at this point
there simply are no jobs any more. The social fabric is gone, there is no more
middle-class, it is virtually nonexistent. All there is is an ever-shrinking
oligarchy of very wealthy people and then the rest of the people who are
becoming ever poorer. Very real poverty! Currently, and here I’m talking about
the latest data from a month ago now, someone who does indeed find a job has to
accept a salary of €300 a month . Take into account that Athens is a very expensive
city to live in, even more so than Florence. I happen to live in Florence so
this is just by way of example, but I was horrified at the thought. How on
earth do these people manage to live? There is no way that they can live
decently, there is no longer any dignity and therefore they cannot be free:
they are destroying your soul as well as you body!
Over 50% of young people are
unemployed Youth unemployment is now standing somewhere between 50%
and 60% . The young people do whatever they can, they accept any kind of
position, even things that not right and unfair, simply because necessity
forces them to accept job offers that should not even be made. I saw jobs
offered at €100 a month . This sort of thing is now happening here in Italy as
well.
Greece may be headed if Europe doesn’t adapt to Syriza’s
view of what the eurozone might be.
The prevailing views amongst Europe’s richer nations, and
its domestic banking sectors, don’t look promising. And when the European
project crashes to a halt, things are not going be pretty. The wisest thing for
Brussels to do may well be to try and dismantle itself as peacefully as it can.
But Brussels is far too loaded with people seeking to hold on to the power they
have gathered.
Still, there’s no denying they have held sway over
rapidly deteriorating conditions on the ground (though they will prefer to lay
the blame elsewhere), which will down the line lead to their own downfall. They
better listen to Yanis now.
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America,
Meet Your Brand New Largest Foreign Creditor. Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 04/15/2015. Exactly one month ago we wrote that "Japan
Ties China As America's Largest Creditor" when, according to Treasury
International Capital in the month of January, China sold just over $5 billion
in Treasurys while Japan bought $8 billion in US paper. Fast forward to today
when we are pleased to announce that, as expected, the trend has continued and
for the first time since the great financial crisis, Japan is once again
America's largest foreign credito.
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Europe
Will Be Very Angry When It Learns Greece Is About To Buy Russian Anti-Aircraft
Missiles. Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 04/15/2015. Just days after Russia
lifted sanctions on providing anti-aircraft missiles to Iran, Reuters
reports that The Greeks are in talks with Russia to purchase missiles
for the S-300 defense system. Greece, a NATO member, has been in possession
of the advanced Russian-made systems since the late 1990s and in a defiant
show of independence towards Troika, is now negotiating with Russia for the
purchase of additional missiles and for their maintenance.
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China
Takes Aim At Dollar Reserve Status: Promotes Yuan In Investment Bank. Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 04/15/2015. The Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank will establish an AIIB currency basket with
China set to push for the yuan to take a prominent role and for “special
currency funds” to be established in order to issue yuan-denominated loans
through the fund. "The AIIB's grand vision for infrastructure
investment [comes] with challenges but China should do its best to establish
the yuan as a currency for settlement and denomination," one analyst
says.
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SEC
Reaches "Appropriate" Settlement With Freddie Mac Execs Who Will Pay
Nothing And Receive No Punishment. Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 04/15/2015. Three former Freddie Mac executives who understated
the amount of subprime exposure on the GSE's book by a factor of 28 came to
terms with the SEC today on a settlement which imposes fees no one has to pay
and "limitations on future behavior" that "will not limit
[anyone] in any practical way."
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It's
April 15th - Do You Know Where Your Tax Dollar Went?. Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 04/15/2015. This will make every American feel much better about
handing over that check today... as Simon Black notes today "I
believe we have an obligation to starve the beast..."
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Russian
Ruble Extends Outperformance - Surges To Strongest Since November. Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 04/15/2015. Isolated Russia
continues to see its currency dramatically outperform the US Dollar. Breaking
below 50 today, this is the strongest the Ruble has been since Nov 2014... The
Ruble is now up almost 22% against the US Dollar year-to-date.
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Comprehending Any Greek Headline (In 1 Simple Ver Diagram). Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/15/2015. Via Peter Tchir of Brean Capital. Here are the 5 groups that currently feed the media with headlines:
The IMF – I am not sure when
their role transcended helping weak countries to being a global market
prognosticator but assume that as much as they chastise Greece, they will
continue to try and get them money – it is pretty much the definition of the
IMF
Greeks in the know (probably
the smallest group)
EU in the know (next
smallest group and mostly a few Germans and ECB employees)
EU making things up – a huge
swath of politicians looking for any soundbite possible
Greeks making things up –
some are honest mistakes as what they said was true 5 minutes before, and they
weren’t told of the changes, but mostly people trying to get attention.
The only
information that matters is that small intersection of what the Greeks in the
Know matches up with what the EU people in the Know say – those details are few
and far between – at least publicly.
The huge crop of those making things up and just guessing
make up the bulk of the headlines and are there to feed the voracious appetite
of reporters, and the market moves (for example to a headline of the IMF is
negotiating, in spite of no headline that had said they weren’t negotiating)
When something from the “in the know” crowd comes out, or
changes, I will change my view, but until then I will filter out the noise. SEE GRAPHIC
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NY
Fed's "Plunge Protection Team" Starts Chicago Trading Floor "In
Case Of Disaster Or Other Eventuality". Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 04/15/2015. We have known for quite some time now that the NY
Fed's market group, aka the Plunge Protection Team, is opening a second office
in HFT-capital Chicago. What was not known is what is the official reasoning
behind the Fed's move to be even closer to its Citadel executions arm.
Overnight, courtesy
of Reuters we found that the "The New York branch of the U.S. Federal
Reserve, wary that a natural disaster or other eventuality could shut down
its market operations as it approaches an interest rate hike, has added
staff and bulked up its satellite office in Chicago."
[GAMBLERS in the casino market are getting safe
in case of war.. what about people?]
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"Staggering"
Student Loan Defaults On Deck: 27% Of Students Are A Month Behind On Their
Payments. Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 04/15/2015. A new St. Louis Fed study finds that the delinquency
rate for student borrowers in repayment is 27.3%, meaning nearly one in
three of the Americans laboring under a debt load that has now swelled to $1.3
trillion are more than a month behind on their payments. Ackman says
there's "no way they are going to pay it back." We can hear the
"cancel the debt" cries now.
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The
Changing World of Work 3: "Full-Stack" Skills. Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 04/15/2015 by
Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog, (Part
1 and Part
2 here).
The core point
of the essay is worth examining: specialization is no longer enough outside
of fields such as surgery. An increasing number of jobs now require working
knowledge, or at least awareness, of cross-disciplinary advances.
Put another way:
owning one skill is no longer enough. Virtually any skill that can be reduced to a procedure defined by
a set of rules can be automated or offshored. Any skill with defined inputs and
outputs can be commoditized: reduced to software or a set of
procedures that can be performed anywhere in the world.
The only value creation model left for labor is to own
the entire process of production. … Peter Drucker noted, enterprises
don't have profits, they only have expenses. Creating value is what
generates profits, and without profits enterprises can't pay employees, and
government can't skim taxes from profits and wages.
Drucker foresaw that workers' knowledge (human capital)
would become the primary means of production in a knowledge
economy, a dynamic he described in his book Post-Capitalist Society.
What are the core skills everyone needs to own? In
my book Get a Job, Build a Real Career and Defy a Bewildering Economy,
I identify the Eight Essential Skills of Professionalism. ..
More important than being a full-stack employee is owning
a full stack of skills. Counting on Corporate America or the central
state to employ everyone who wants to work is giving Corporate America and the
central state way too much power over our individual destinies and the destiny
of the nation. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-04-15/changing-world-work-3-full-stack-skills
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US
Industrial Production Plunges By Most Since Aug 2012, Utility Output Drops Most
In 9 Years. Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 04/15/2015. What is even more stunning is that despite the
coldest of cold winters that crashed the US economy, Utilities saw their
output crash 5.9% - the most in 9 years (explained as follows - largely
reversing a similarly-sized increase in February, which was related to
unseasonably cold temperatures). Motor Vehicles saved the data from being a
catastrophe with a 3.2% rise (following a 3.6% drop In Feb).
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German
FinMin Schaeuble Sees "No Contagion" From Grexit, Don't Show Him This
Chart. Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 04/15/2015. Because all that matters is what some elite says, we
are sure the following propaganda from German FinMin Schaeuble will be
regurgitated by the mainstream media:
*SCHAEUBLE SAYS "YOU CAN’T SEE ANY CONTAGION"
However, if one actually looks at the data - European
peripheral bond risk premia have soared in the last week as Grexit fears
resurge.
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April
Empire Fed Manufacturing Plunges, New Orders Crash To Jan 2013 Lows. Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 04/15/2015. Across the board the
report was painful as Prices Paid surged, employment plunged, and work hours
tumbled. Hope rermains as the business outlook improved (but even there capex
and new orders were weak) New Orders stood out as it crashed to its lowest
since Jan 2013. It appears there is more afoot than just weather...
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Greek
Bonds Tumble, Yield Highest In 2 Years On Report Germany Prepares For Greek
Default. Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 04/15/2015. Berlin is drawing up contingency plans as Germany
prepares for an increasingly likely Greek default, Zeit reports. The new
plan purportedly is designed to prop up the Greek banking sector in the event
Athens misses a payment, but it's contingent upon the Syriza government acting
less "taxi-driver-ish" at the reform negotiating table. In the
event Greece will not cooperate, Germany is prepared to let them go but
Brussels will help "facilitate" the transition to the drachma (that
currency Goldman recently said the country "can't just print").
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Bank
of America Revenue Drops, Misses Due To Declining Trading Revenues, Loan
Creation And Net Interest Margin. Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 04/15/2015. One look at BofA's earnings report shows why contrary to
popular opinion, the bank that bailed out insolvent Merrill Lynch is far better
off to be pnealized with tens of billions in legal fees than running its
business unbothered by the racketeering government. The reason: a year after
BofA reported $6 billion in litigation charges, moments ago Bank of America
announced only $0.4 billion in legal fees, which meant it barely had any
credible addbacks.
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Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 04/15/2015 - 07:27
- China growth slowest in six years, more stimulus expected soon (Reuters)
- EU charges Google over shopping searches, to probe Android (Reuters)
- A Chinese Paradox: Slow Growth Is Good, Stock Bubbles Welcome (BBG)
- Draghi Seen Dispelling Duration Doubts About QE Program (BBG)
- IEA Sees OPEC Supply Jumping Most in Four Years on Saudi Surge (BBG)
- SEC Reaches Settlement with Former Freddie Mac (WSJ)
- Kerry says confident Obama can get final deal on Iran (Reuters)
- Regulators Call for Short-Term Loan Changes to Handle ‘Too-Big-to-Fail’ (WSJ)
- Florida Doctor Linked to Sen. Robert Menendez Indicted for Medicare Fraud (WSJ)
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PRESSTV
‘GOP
takes marching orders from Israel’ . Thu Apr 16, 2015 The GOP Congress
takes its marching orders from Netanyahu to ensure there will be no nuclear
deal between Iran and the P5+1, an ex-US congressional staffer says.
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US
blacks suffer 'incremental genocide' . Wed Apr 15, 2015 An American
historian says the “police brutality” against the black people in the United
States is actually “incremental genocide” to get rid of them.
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Israel
real director of US policies?. Wed Apr 15, 2015 This edition of The
Debate focuses on the AIPAC's lobbying clout on the policies of the US
administration.
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Ansarullah
seizes dropped Saudi weapons. Wed Apr 15, 2015 Ansarullah fighters
commandeer a batch of weapons and munitions dropped by Saudi aircraft for
al-Qaeda-linked militants in Yemen.
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Iran
to hold Obama accountable over deal. Wed Apr 15, 2015 Iran says Obama
will be held “accountable” for respecting a final agreement over Tehran's
nuclear program.
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‘Hackers
could take over Wi-Fi planes’. Wed Apr 15, 2015 Planes with Wi-Fi
accessibility could be taken over and brought down by hackers, a new report
warns.
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‘UNSC
resolution escalates Saudi raids'. Wed Apr 15, 2015 A commentator says
the recent UN Security Council resolution gives Saudi Arabia the green light to
continue destroying Yemen and killing civilians.
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‘US
Senate bill could kill Iran deal'. Wed Apr 15, 2015 An analyst says the
US Senate bill is a “potential showstopper” and it would further complicate the
nuclear talks because of its serious flaws.
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Russia
rejects Germany’s S-300 criticism. Wed Apr 15, 2015 Russia dismisses
Germany’s criticism over the delivery of S-300 missile systems to Iran.
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'Iran
bill passage not defeat for Obama'. Wed Apr 15, 2015 A White House
official says a US Senate panel's approval of a bill that would allow Congress
to review a nuclear deal with Iran is not a defeat for the administration.
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Brazil ruling party treasurer detained. Wed Apr 15, 2015 The treasurer of Brazil’s ruling Workers’ Party is arrested as part of a corruption investigation.
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FARC
raid kills 10 Colombia soldiers. Wed Apr 15, 2015 Ten Colombian
soldiers are killed in an attack blamed on the FARC rebels in the western part
of the country.
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‘UK
lost sovereignty after joining NATO’. Wed Apr 15, 2015 A London-based
journalist has told Press TV’s UK desk that Britain lost some of its
sovereignty when it joined NATO.
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'Yemen
attrition war to bog Saudi down’. Wed Apr 15, 2015 A commentator says
the Saudis are going to be bogged down in a long war which they will not
actually win.
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Erdogan:
1915 killings no ‘genocide’ . Wed Apr 15, 2015 President Erdogan says
Turkey will never recognize as genocide the 1915 killings of Armenians during
the era of the Ottoman Empire.
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Russian
oil giant rushes back to Iran. Wed Apr 15, 2015 Russia’s No. 2 oil
giant reopens its Iran office in anticipation of big business.
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Wed Apr 15, 2015 1:19PM
An Iraqi official warns that Ramadi could fall to the ISIL
Takfiri terrorists amid fierce battle for the city.
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Wed Apr 15, 2015 12:44PM
IMF cuts its forecast for weaker economies, while upgrading
those of developed countries.
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Wed Apr 15, 2015 12:15PM
The UN warns that millions of children in the Middle East
are not being educated.
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Wed Apr 15, 2015 10:16AM
Iran's president says there will be no deal on Iran’s
nuclear program unless the sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic are
lifted.
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INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE
Geopolitical
Ramifications of US-Saudi Armed Interventionism in Yemen
By Prof. Henry Francis B. Espiritu
The sad truth is that US never cares to propagate democracy in the Middle East.
By Prof. Henry Francis B. Espiritu
The sad truth is that US never cares to propagate democracy in the Middle East.
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Cuba, Iran
and American Lies
By Margaret Kimberley
There is a long history of claims made about America’s relations with other nations that have been revealed as cynical, bald faced lies.
By Margaret Kimberley
There is a long history of claims made about America’s relations with other nations that have been revealed as cynical, bald faced lies.
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Hillary
Clinton – the ‘Liberal’ Puppet for War
By Finian Cunningham
There is no difference between any of the American presidential candidates, whether they are Democrat or Republican. All are bought-and-paid-for by the top one per cent of super-rich in American society.
By Finian Cunningham
There is no difference between any of the American presidential candidates, whether they are Democrat or Republican. All are bought-and-paid-for by the top one per cent of super-rich in American society.
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Who’s
Protesting in Brazil and Why?
By Bryan Pitts
Don’t believe the right-wing media’s emphasis on corruption—the recent demonstrations are motivated by entrenched elite discontent over expanding economic and political inclusion for the nation’s majority.
By Bryan Pitts
Don’t believe the right-wing media’s emphasis on corruption—the recent demonstrations are motivated by entrenched elite discontent over expanding economic and political inclusion for the nation’s majority.
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Will
Washington Kill Us All?
By Paul Craig Roberts
The propagandistic American “media” and the crazed neoconservatives have set humanity on the path to destruction.
By Paul Craig Roberts
The propagandistic American “media” and the crazed neoconservatives have set humanity on the path to destruction.
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GLOBAL RESEARCH
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LATINO NEWS:
ALAINET.org
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Un alto cargo de EEUU dice que el
envÃo de S-300 a Irán no afecta a cooperación con Rusia Sputnik
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