Default and devalue

Iceland Breaks Out of Recession
PARIS — Iceland broke out of Recession in the Third Quarter of this year, official data showed Tuesday, returning to growth for the first time since its Financial System collapsed at the height of the crisis in 2008. Iceland’s real gross domestic product grew by 1.2 percent in the July-September period from the previous quarter, the first quarterly increase since the same period in 2008. Iceland entered a profound slump after its badly overleveraged Financial Sector collapsed in the...

U.K. Banks Face Government Levy
Five U.K. banks may have to pay hundreds of millions of pounds in a levy that aims to charge them for the risks they pose to the country's economy. The planned bank levy will raise a total of 2.5 billion pounds ($3.59 billion) a year from 2012 onwards, The Wall Street Journal said. The levy has two goals, according to Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mark Hoban. Sponsored Links "First, ensuring that banks make a fair contribution in respect of the potential risks they pose to the U.K. f...

Banks That Failed Despite Fed's Cash
The Federal Reserve’s multitrillion-dollar effort to save the Financial System helped prop up hundreds of ailing banks. But not every institution fared so well. Some 20 American banks that tapped tens of billions of dollars from the Fed’s various emergency Lending programs later failed, according to data the Fed released last week. The shuttered banks, all once deemed by the Fed to be relatively healthy, ranged from small community banks in Florida to big savings institutions like ...

Ditch the Fed? Not so fast!
gives us an economy we don't deserve! my Mortgage is now in arrears! A Central Bank! A Central Bank? they're cycles we have to endure. The Central Bank's motives are pure! True or false: the United States did not have a central bank before 1913, the year the Federal Reserve system was established. Answer to follow. First, consider the growing numbers of voices these days urging either to dis-establish the Fed or to revise its charter (which would not be the first time). Gerald O'Driscoll, writi...

Robert Lenzner: Soros Warns U.S. Could Be On Verge Dictatorial Democracy, Slams Fox News, Glenn Beck
Billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros warned tonight in New York that the combination of Fox News, Glenn Beck, The Tea Party, and the ability of Americans to fantasize unrealistically about their political system might lead "this open society to be on the verge of some dictatorial Democracy." Soros mentioned George Orwell's novel, "1984″ as a possible precedent for the kind of fantasies being promulgated in our culture today. Orwell's "1984″ satirized the Communist system of...

EU to decide Greek loan extension in early 2011
VOULIAGMENI, Greece (AP) - The European Union will likely decide early next year on extending Greece's repayment period for the Bailout loans that saved the country from default, top EU economic official Olli Rehn said Thursday. Greece is in negotiations to get more time to repay loans worth up to euro110 billion ($145 billion) from the European Union and International Monetary Fund. EU governments had earlier said they were considering pushing back the start of repayments by 4 1/2 years past t...

EU reassures Greece on loan extension
ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Debt-strapped Greece will likely get more time before it has to repay the Bailout loans that saved it from defaulting on its bonds, a top EU official indicated Thursday as the union seeks to keep its government debt crisis from mushrooming. A decision on delaying Greece's first repayments will likely be taken next year, EU monetary affairs commissioner Olli Rehn said during a visit to Athens. Greece has to start repaying Bailout loans of up to euro110 billion ($145 billio...

EU taking 'positive look' at Greek extension
Top EU economic official Olli Rehn says the bloc is taking a "positive look" at extending the repayment period of Bailout loans that saved the country from default. Greece is in negotiations to get more time to repay loans worth up to €110 billion ($145 billion) from the European Union and International Monetary Fund. EU governments had earlier said they were considering pushing back the start of repayments by 4 1/2 years from the current 3 years. Rehn on Thursday expressed "sincere admira...

Greece seeks longer to repay 110bn IMF bailout loan as austerity bites
© Reuters/John Kolesidis Athens' giant Christmas Tree burns in front of the Greek parliament in Athens December 8, 2008. Protesters set fire to a major Department Store in central Athens and torched the city's giant Christmas Tree outside parliament as anti-government Protests gathered energy. How long before this spreads all over Europe? IMF team flies in to Athens amid fears over Economic Recovery and reforms as EU predicts public Debt at 160% of GDP by 2013 Demonstrations are expected...

EU to decide Greek loan extension in early 2011
The European Union will likely decide early next year on extending Greece's repayment period for the Bailout loans that saved it from default, top EU economic official Olli Rehn said Thursday. Greece has to start repaying loans of up to €110 billion ($145 billion) from the EU and International Monetary Fund in 2013. EU governments have said they are considering pushing back that date by 4 1/2 years to put it in line with the deadlines of Ireland's own bailout. The move comes as EU official...

The Economic Incompetence Of The Political Class
Forbes Charles W. Kadlec, 12.06.10, 3:00 PM ET The sovereign Debt crisis now threatening Europe, as well as major American states and cities, discloses the sheer incompetence of a political class that has over-promised, under-delivered and squandered vast amounts of their citizens' wealth. Greece, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, California, Illinois, Los Angeles and Chicago are simply the poster Children for what happens when elected officials engage in reckless and irresponsible management of thei...

US Treasury launches final sale of Citigroup shares
The US Treasury said Monday it was launching the sale of its remaining stocks in banking giant Citigroup, rescued in a Taxpayer-funded Bailout amid the 2008 Financial Crisis. The Treasury said it was putting on the market about 2.4 billion shares of Citigroup's common stock. "Completion of the offering would depend on whether it receives an acceptable price for the shares," it said. Treasury invested a total of 45 billion dollars in Citigroup through the Troubled Asset Relief Program, set up ...

Citi shares soar after US Treasury sells stake
Citigroup logo. Shares of Citigroup soared on Tuesday, a day after the US g... Shares of Citigroup soared on Tuesday, a day after the US government sold its remaining common shares in the big bank for 10.5 billion dollars as it winds down its massive Bailout. The Treasury announced on Monday it was launching the sale of the last of its remaining common stock in Citigroup, some 2.4 billion shares priced at 4.35 per share, 10 cents below Monday's closing price. The news boosted the bank's stocks...

La Scala clashes inflame debate on Italy cuts
Clashes outside Milan's La Scala opera house and an unprecedented outburst by its Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim inflamed a debate in Italy on Wednesday over deep cuts to public spending on culture. Riot Police fired Tear Gas at Students who threw Firecrackers and charged at police lines just before a performance on Tuesday of Wagner's "The Valkyrie" at the season opening of La Scala -- one of the world's most famous opera houses. The celebrated Argentinian-born conductor told reporters af...

Irish Eyes Are Crying, Part 10
Ireland's new Austerity plus Budget (the plus is a healthy dose of serious pain) is expected to be approved today, as thousands of Irish will be made to pay a dear price for the excesses of the country's banks. The Budget will be the toughest of four Austerity plans designed to save 15 billion Euros — nearly 10 percent of the country's annual economic output — and get the worst Budget Deficit in the region back within EU limits by 2014 or 2015 at the latest. Cowen will push through s...

Stock Gains Fade into Neutral Finish
(MarketWatch) - US stocks ended in neutral territory Tuesday, as healthy gains that came with a deal to extend Tax Cuts lost their steam on gains by The Dollar. The greenback's rise came largely against the euro, which fell as Ireland's parliament began voting on severe Austerity measures. Shedding a rise of more than 70 points, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at 11,359.16, down 3.03 points. The S&P; 500 finished fractionally higher at 1,223.75, while the NASDAQ Composite gained 3.57 point...

Rise in Bond Yields Drive Dollar Strength
The US dollar headed higher amid a rise in tension on the Korean Peninsula and more importantly a surge in US bond yields with the 10-year increasing by 7bp today.  The euro tested levels under $1.320 but sovereign support, coupled with better-than-expected German industrial production, underpinned recovery. Sterling traded at session highs after UK CBI Manufacturing orders beat expectations in December.  The index hit the highest levels since June 2008, which stoked UK recovery hopes ...

Beware $90 oil
Beware $90 oil Posted by Nin-Hai Tseng, writer-reporter December 8, 2010 12:34 pm With high Unemployment, weak Consumer Spending and falling Home Prices, what else could possibly slow America's Economic Recovery? Oil Prices. Though prices have retreated a bit since, Crude Oil climbed above $90 a barrel on Tuesday – its highest level in two years. Futures rose by 1.5% to trade as high as $90.76 in New York, according to Bloomberg. Oil's 14-day relative strength, which measures the fluct...

Seven Reasons For Optimism
The Conference Board, a survey of large U.S. companies, predicts sickly 1.2% growth in 2011. That's down from 2.6% this year, which didn't feel all that great. But I think 2011 will do better. Not a boom, but somewhere close to 3%. Here's why. - Nongovernment deleveraging is over. Here are the facts: Aggregate demand in the U.S.--which is the sum of annual GDP plus new public and private Debt--fell from $18.8 Trillion in 2008 and $17 Trillion in 2009 to an estimated $14.2 Trillion in 2010. In ot...

Asian stock markets higher amid growth hopes
TOKYO (AP) - Asian Stock Markets mostly advanced Thursday after Japan's Third Quarter GDP was revised higher and the extension of U.S. Tax Cuts boosted expectations of stronger Economic Growth in the short-term. The regional upswing came after modest gains in the U.S., where stocks fluctuated before turning positive late in the session. A Compromise in Washington to extend Tax Cuts boosted shares and sent bond prices sharply lower, as some investors expect it to lead to stronger growth in the w...

Greek transport workers strike against austerity
ATHENS, Greece - Public transport ground to a halt in Athens Wednesday as workers walked off the job for a 24-hour strike in the latest display of union opposition to Austerity measures in crisis-hit Greece. The capital was left without buses, the metro, trams or trolleys, while national rail services were also halted as workers protested plans by the Socialist Government to restructure state-run transport companies and reduce subsidy payments. Ferry services to Greek islands and flights w...

Euro zone jitters spread to German bonds
By Kirsten Donovan and Paul Taylor London/PARIS | Wed Dec 8, 2010 8:08am EST London/PARIS (Reuters) - Yields on German Government Bonds, normally seen as a safe haven by investors, rose on Wednesday as deepening uncertainty over how to stem the Euro zone's Debt crisis hit even Europe's strongest economy. The yield on the 10-year German Bund, the benchmark for all Euro zone debt, topped 3 percent for the first time in seven months, partly due to a sell-off in U.S. Treasuries but also due to an...

Ireland's Credit Rating Downgraded Three Notches by Fitch
Fitch Ratings on Thursday downgraded Ireland three notches from A+ to BBB+, with a stable outlook, citing higher fiscal costs of restructuring and supporting the banking system after the country received international economic assistance last month. The credit Rating Agency said the downgrade was spurred by weak growth prospects and the loss of affordable funding in the market, as well as greater uncertainty about the Irish Economy due to the deepening financial crisis. "The scale and pace of ...

Greek transport workers strike against austerity
ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Public transport ground to a halt in Athens Wednesday as workers walked off the job for a 24-hour strike in the latest display of union opposition to Austerity measures in crisis-hit Greece. The capital was left without buses, the metro, trams or trolleys, while national rail services were also halted as workers protested plans by the Socialist Government to restructure state-run transport companies and reduce subsidy payments. Ferry services to Greek islands and flights ...

Electronic payments crowd out checks in US: Fed
A man uses a Laptop computer at a wireless cafe. Electronic payments have s... Electronic payments have surged in the United States to more than 75 percent of all noncash payments as check usage continues to fall by the wayside, a Federal Reserve report showed Wednesday. All types of US electronic payments grew in the 2006-2009 period studied, with the exception of Credit Cards, the Fed said. Wire transfers were not included in the triannual study, whose latest edition spans the worst US reces...