"Greece asks US to crack down on speculators; Leaders say high-risk trades worsen crisis" by Desmond Butler, Associated Press | March 10, 2010
WASHINGTON - President Obama reacted positively to European ideas about cracking down on currency speculation, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said following a White House meeting yesterday.
Papandreou said he outlined European proposals in his White House meeting. He said the issue would be discussed at the next meeting of the Group of 20 summit of leading and emerging economies in June.
Earlier yesterday, European officials urged the United States to curb certain financial instruments.
A market frenzy in recent weeks saw traders make bets worth billions of dollars against the euro and on the chances of Greece not repaying its massive debts. Those market worries have undermined the 16-country currency....
Yup, the globalist system coming apart before it evens gets out of the womb.
The Greek leader also met with US lawmakers yesterday, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“The Greek people can be assured that the United States will stand with them at this critical time,’’ Pelosi said in a brief joint appearance with the Greek prime minister.
So how much tax loot are we go giving the Greek$, M$. $peaker?
In a boost for Papandreou, the Homeland Security Secretary said yesterday that Greece had been added to a list of countries whose citizens do not need visas for tourist visits to the United States. Most European countries already enjoy that privilege, so the issue has been sensitive for the Greek government, which has been pleading for years to join the visa waiver program.
Big whoop! Who cares about the damn airline tyranny at a time like this!?
Yeah, that will really help their debt problems!
Papandreou’s trip to Washington along with his finance minister, George Papaconstantinou, comes as Greece tries to climb out of a steep economic hole that widened after Papandreou’s Socialist party came to power in October and revealed that its budget deficit was far worse than the previous government had disclosed....
Papandreou’s trip is part of a four-nation tour aimed at boosting Greece’s financial credibility and winning support for more favorable interest rates for loans.
Begging the very bankers that put you in this position?
Papandreou says the solution lies with support from the European Union. He was in the United States as the Obama administration and Congress are considering major changes in the US financial system to prevent future activities such as those that caused a major recession in Obama’s first year in office....
We were told that has been over for six months, so.... pffft.
Credit default swaps are a form of insurance for buyers to protect them against the risk that a seller or borrower would default on a security such as a government bond. In “naked’’ sales, the buyer does not hold the underlying asset and faces no such risk - but can make a profit on the swap itself.
Related: Breaking News: Goldman Sachs Screwed Greece
Boston Globe Sides With Goldman Sachs Over Globalists
Yeah, they always seem to be at the bottom of everything.
Papandreou on Monday compared the practice of selling naked credit default swaps to buying insurance on a neighbor’s house and then burning it down to collect.
That is what GOLDMAN'S DOES!
They sell you the deal then BET AGAINST YOU!!!
Papaconstantinou warned in an interview with the Associated Press that leading economic powers have not yet implemented the changes needed to avoid another financial crisis.
Yeah, we know. It is back to business as usual.
Why wouldn't it be? The bankers, corporations, and Zionist run the U.S. Congress.
“The real question that we should be asking ourselves on both sides of the ocean is, ‘Have we learned the lessons of that financial crisis?’ ’’ he said. “I think the honest answer is that despite some political will to do so, we haven’t actually taken all the necessary measures.’’
The answer is NO!
--more--"
NEW YORK — Derivatives have become a dirty word. The complex financial products helped blow up the US housing market. They all but sank AIG.
Related: Money Monday: Goldman Sachs' Gold Mine
Again!
Now, European officials want to crack down on a derivative called a credit default swap. It’s an insurance-like product they say has worsened Europe’s debt crisis and could bankrupt Greece.
Hold on, many analysts say: Credit default swaps — contracts that insure debt — have actually prevented Greece’s debacle from worsening. Without them, they say, investors would be less willing to buy Greece’s debt. It would probably need a bailout.
They are going to anyway, and F*** the "investor" for a while, hanh?
We KNOW WHAT RICH, ELITE SCUM CLASS they come from and we are SICK of the DAMN VAMPIRES!!!!!!
Maybe DEBT isn't that good a thing, 'eh, GOVERNMENT?
Oh, right, not your money.
“If we get to a point where we’ve had enough with credit default swaps, then I think Greece will have serious problems,’’ said Darrell Duffie, a finance professor at Stanford University.
Sellers of credit default swaps agree to pay the buyers if the debt goes bad. With swaps, investors who lend to countries by buying their bonds can reduce their risk.
And you know who GAINS the RISK, don't you, taxpayers of the world?
You are a cash cow, global citizen!
Without them, Duffie and others say, Greece’s borrowing costs would escalate; lenders would demand higher premiums.
What a bunch of f***ing assholes, huh?
You are in trouble and they are making it more difficult and profiting mightily off your suffering -- while getting taxpayer-funded bailouts for bonuses and bottom lines!
What a GREAT ECONOMIC SYSTEM they devised for THEMSELVES, huh?
Greece argues that traders of the swaps who bet against Greece’s debt are raising its borrowing costs, making default more likely.
Yeah, it is called a RIGGED GAME and WE DO NOT WANT to PLAY ANYMORE!!
It claims trading of swaps — which is unregulated — is racking up big profits for Wall Street banks and hedge funds at Greece’s expense.
Yup!! And we know who public enemy # 1 is, too!
“Speculators are making billions every day betting on Greece’s default,’’ Prime Minister George Papandreou said this week in Washington. His government is pressing the United States to restrict such trading.
Greece favors banning “naked’’ credit default swaps on a country’s debt. In naked trades, buyers of the swaps don’t actually hold the underlying debt. Yet they can still profit or lose money.
Papandreou likened this practice to buying insurance on a neighbor’s house and then burning it down to collect. Without naming names, he said some US banks that were bailed out during the financial crisis are using naked swaps to make “a fortune out of Greece’s misfortune.’’
Well, I already have and....
The Federal Reserve is investigating how Goldman Sachs and others are using derivatives.
Ooops! Name-droppers!!
Btw, I'm sure the Fed will do a bang-up job of investigating seeing as there is a REVOLVING DOOR between the two.
Pffft!
The Securities and Exchange Commission is examining the issue, too.
Yeah, whatever: U.S. Government Knew About Madoff Scheme Since 1960
Yeah, they will get to the bottom of this, too.
--more--"
And despite all the happy talk:
SINGAPORE — Confidence in the world economy dropped for a second month in March amid concern the fallout from Greece’s budget crisis will undermine the global recovery, according to a six-continent Bloomberg survey....
Yeah, put it all on them! Pfft!
“Confidence has been a bit shaky, with Greece being a timely reminder that governments need to adhere to fiscal discipline,’’ said Tai Hui, head of Southeast Asian economic research at Standard Chartered PLC in Singapore, and a regular survey participant....
Did you drop the U.S. a note?
Or do you mean must pay off banks first, because.... ?
Euro-area growth almost ground to a halt in the fourth quarter, while unemployment held at the highest level in more than 11 years in January. The European Commission last month said the economy may fail to gather strength for most of 2010....
After all the recovery talk we have heard for months and months and months?
Asia Pacific nations are leading the recovery from the global recession, and central banks in Australia, Malaysia, and Vietnam have raised interest rates to avert asset bubbles and contain inflation. In Latin America, foreign investors are pumping money into Brazil’s economy as the country builds houses, roads, and stadiums for the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament and the 2016 Olympic Games, prompting Luciano Coutinho, president of the state development bank BNDES, to say on March 3 that Latin America’s largest economy may overheat if too much investment flows into the country.
That's not HERE or THERE, readers!
And could you SEND SOME of that UP HERE, please?
The dollar confidence index rose. Survey respondents in Europe turned pessimistic on the euro, expecting it to weaken against the dollar in the next six months.
WOW! What a TURN AROUND!
I thought the DOLLAR was getting ready to DUMP, but the GLOBALIST-DESIGNED EURO beat us to it!!
--more--"
And then the protests started:
ATHENS — Clashes between riot police and rock-throwing, masked demonstrators broke out during a rally yesterday in central Athens by tens of thousands of striking workers protesting austerity measures the Greek government has said it has no choice but to implement.
Yeah, that first group I classify as agent provocateurs employed by the government to sully the cause of the good people of Greece. They know what Operation Gladio means.
The debt-ridden country is under intense pressure from markets and the European Union....
And when it comes to workers vs. globalists, you know who governments choose.
Yesterday’s 24-hour general strike, the second in about a week, grounded airline flights, halted public transport, suspended news broadcasts, and left public hospitals only with emergency staff.
Oh-oh. I may be stuck here a while.
Demonstrators took to the streets of Athens and Thessaloniki, banging drums and chanting, “No sacrifice for plutocracy’’ and “Real jobs, higher pay.’’ They were joined by uniformed police, coast guard members, and firefighters.
Oh, yes, TRULY a PEOPLE'S MARCH (and thus the need for the APs)!!
When the THIN BLUE LINE joins the PEOPLE in PROTEST you have a government in trouble (and in need of AP false flags, cui bono)!!
“The fight must be constant until these unpopular measures passed by the government are overturned,’’ demonstrator Olga Raptou said.
Agreed.
An unofficial police estimate put the Athens crowd at about 20,000; organizers said the number was much higher.
Yeah, I never believe low-ball (or high-ball if it is an approved, agenda-pushing protest) figures authorities put out anymore.
Clashes broke out soon after the march began, with riot police firing tear gas and stun grenades to disperse masked demonstrators who smashed pavement, marble steps, and building facades for projectiles to throw at police. Businessmen in suits scurried for cover.
Yeah, I DO NOT like the SMELL at all!
About 200 black-clad protesters in crash helmets and ski masks fought sporadic street battles with police through central Athens, smashing the windows of shops, banks, and hotels; setting trash bins on fire; and punching and kicking motorcycle officers. After the march ended, the violence spread to a nearby square, where tear gas sent customers running from open-air cafes.
Police said 13 police officers were injured and 16 people were detained.
Public anger has grown, but it has been mitigated by a general understanding that something must be done to pull the country out of a crisis that has made its cost of borrowing skyrocket. A poll published last weekend, just after Parliament approved the measures, indicated that Greeks were split — with 47 percent opposing the austerity package and 46 percent supporting it.
Yeah, right, like I'm going to believe a rigged, agenda-pushing poll.
Yeah, with cops, coast guard, and firemen in the streets with the workers.
Screw the blood-sucking bankers. I'm not alone in that feeling at all.
“It is to be expected that there will be reaction to these measures,’’ Deputy Prime Minister Theodore Pangalos said Wednesday. “We took very difficult decisions that were very unpleasant, and they personally upset me a great deal. But we cannot do anything differently.’’
Because the banks own their balls!
Prime Minister George Papandreou’s Socialists, who came to power in a landslide election victory in October, enjoy a comfortable majority with 160 of Parliament’s 300 seats and easily pushed the measures through Parliament on March 5.
Yeah, so much for change, huh?
“We have made a choice which could lead the country to a radical clean up of the past,’’ Pangalos said. “We will find the way forward, and we will not turn back. And no one can obstruct this given that a large section of Greek society supports us.’’
Well, they voted for you and then got a knife in the back.
Support out in the streets, no?
--more--"
That's when the Globe coverage ended for a few days, and what you received when you returned was not pleasant.
"Positive signs don’t stop protesters" by Associated Press | March 17, 2010
ATHENS — Police scuffled with demonstrators in Athens late yesterday as the government faced fresh opposition to its austerity measures, despite signs that markets are beginning to respond positively to Greece’s drastic cuts.
Hold that thought, will you, readers?
Riot police fired stun grenades to disperse rock-throwing youths outside parliament during a brief flare-up of violence after 2,000 people took part in a protest march.
A hallmark of a Gladio! One wonders if they were even Greek sometimes.
Greece’s state power company began rolling blackouts — affecting parts of the northern city of Thessaloniki and other places — after workers at the utility went on a 48-hour strike to protest pay cuts.
Is that why the pro-corporate, agenda-pushing paper moved away from the story for a few days? I'm giving you everything I am reading in the Glob, folks.
State hospital nurses staged a one-day strike and 400 union members demonstrated peacefully outside the health ministry in Athens.
Yeah, see, see!!!??
And they also have the NURSES on their side, huh?
Greece is under pressure from the European Union to control its finances, after its mounting debts hit confidence in the euro and jolted world markets....
Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s took Greece off credit watch yesterday, winning the country some respite from market pressure. It said the austerity package was “appropriate’’ for budget-reduction targets.
I'll bet it doesn't last long. Like a quick breath.
Greece says it isn’t seeking a bailout from the European Union but may need help borrowing at a cheaper rate if yields on its bonds remain high.
That's the ANSWER to EVERYTHING, huh?
TAX and BORROW?
EU leaders have refused to give any details on an assistance plan beyond a vague promise to provide a safety net against financial collapse. But Labor Minister Andreas Loverdos said he was encouraged by the support expressed by European Union officials.
“The Europeans are not telling us to take further measures . . . they are praising the measures we’ve taken and looking for ways to support us,’’ Loverdos told private Mega television.
Tomorrow, taxi drivers and gas station owners will strike to protest a draft law aimed at an overhaul of the tax system.And the PEOPLE'S PROTESTS just gets WIDER!
--more--"
And that is when the globalists bailed out and left taxpayers holding the bag:
"Greece says it may have to turn to IMF; Its first choice is an EU bailout" by Aoife White, Associated Press | March 19, 2010
Their answer: NO!
BRUSSELS — Greece warned yesterday that it will be forced to turn to the International Monetary Fund if the European Union can’t agree on a bailout plan.
Greece is paying a high price to sell bonds because investors fear its massive budget gap this year could cause it to default on debt payments. It needs to borrow some $74 billion this year.
It is a VICIOUS SPIRAL, isn't it?
I believe they call it borrowing from Peter to pay Paul.
Prime Minister George Papandreou said Greece needs “breathing space’’ from intense market pressure to allow it to borrow cheaply and push through a tough austerity program to reduce its massive budget gap....
U.S. future I'm looking at here?
“If we keep borrowing at very high rates, and this is the challenge we have, we cannot sustain the deficit reduction that these hard measures aim to achieve,’’ he told a European Parliament committee that is investigating the effects of the financial crisis on the region.
“We are asking our people — workers, wage-earners, pensioners — to take a cut in order that we cut the deficit and that could be eaten up . . . in a few moments in speculation on the world markets,’’ he said.
So we can PAY FRAUDULENT BANKERS who sold us crap THEIR PAYMENTS!
But euro zone finance ministers warned Monday that any loans from them would not charge “favorable’’ interest rates, to discourage countries from seeking bailouts.
Translation: F*** YOU, Greek people!
Yeah, BANKS deserve PROFIT-BOOSTING BAILOUTS while you get shat upon!!!
Germany, the richest euro zone nation, is reluctant to bail out Greece and Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested countries that persistently break EU budget rules should be expelled from the currency union.
Probably the BEST THING for the Greek people!!
--more--"
And about those "positive" signs the protesters are missing:
Greece, India news raises recovery questions
Sigh.
So you going to help out and save your system, globalists pukes, or are you going to once again let the bankers devour taxpayer dollars?
BRUSSELS — The European Commission urged Germany and other eurozone governments yesterday to put up a package of government-to-government loans to ease Greece’s financial plight and end weeks of financial turmoil and speculation.
And where do governments get their tax monie$, taxpayer$?
EC president Jose Manuel Barroso said European aid is necessary because “we cannot prolong any further the current situation.’’
Even as a standby gesture, Barroso said, the availability of aid from Greece’s partners would show financial markets that European Union nations are united to defend their single currency and the stability of the eurozone....
Translation: They are taking care and nursing their baby because it is sick.
Something yours truly recognized once the story broke.
--more--"
Ball now in your court, Angela:
"Greece needs no EU help, Merkel says" by Associated Press | March 22, 2010
BERLIN — Rebuffing European Union officials, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said yesterday that Greece does not need financial help and that EU leaders should not make aid an issue at their summit in Brussels this week....
The chancellor warned against discussions of possible EU bailout plans, saying it would only cause turbulence in the markets by raising false expectations....
Does that mean another flight delay for me?
--more--"
New helper has a stern lecture for you, too, Greeks:
BEIJING — The International Monetary Fund warned the world’s wealthiest nations yesterday to watch their surging levels of government debt, saying it could hinder the growth needed to ensure continued economic recovery....
John Lipsky, the IMF’s number-two official, told the China Development Forum, said countries that have been going into debt to stimulate their economies should be ready for belt-tightening....
It's on the last notch already!!!
Get it from the god-damn banksters!!!
But then we won't be spending and we will short circuit the recovery (or so I've been told) -- as if I had any money to spare for savings!!!
Hey, when you live in an elitist, paid-for world....
--more--"
And she ain't no angel, is she, Greece?
"EU considers loans, IMF aid for Greece as Germany balks at bailout" by Pan Pylas and Aoife White, Associated Press | March 23, 2010
BRUSSELS — German reluctance to bail out Greece has raised the chances the debt-laden country will be forced to turn to the International Monetary Fund for assistance, possibly by the end of this week.
Bad move for Greece.
Third world status on the way for the Greek citizen.
Lawmakers in France and Luxembourg said yesterday that European Union nations are discussing a combination of bilateral loans from individual eurozone countries that want to contribute — and IMF aid for Greece, if it needs it.
She said not to, don't you listen!!!
Related: European Vacation: Sarkozy's Sacre Bleu
Yeah, I stopped there.
Greece has around $27.1 billion of debt maturing over the next couple of months and wants to avoid paying sky-high premiums to raise money from international bond markets.
Fuck those taxpayer-sucking scum!
The unusually public divide between Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and EU officials backed by France over how to help Greece has kept investors on edge ahead of an EU leaders’ meeting Thursday.
I love seeing globalists eat each other.
“A crisis that began over Greece’s borrowing costs is now metamorphosing into a more serious threat to the political and economic order in Europe as a whole,’’ said Stephen Lewis, chief economist at Monument Securities in London.
Yes, it is THREATENING the PLANS for GLOBAL GOVERNMENT because the TEMPLATE has FAILED!
Eurozone governments said last week they would provide Greece with support, probably bilateral loans, if necessary. Greece says it does not need a direct cash infusion, but a blueprint for help to convince markets that it will not be allowed to default.
Yup, it's always the "markets" that come FIRST, global citizens.
That would lower its costs to raise money.
Now BORROWING has become RAISING money?
Ah, what is a slight deception in the newspaper, anyway?
Thing is full of 'em.
In the past few days, however, Germany has been dashing those hopes — and raising the possibility that the IMF would get involved.
Merkel said yesterday that EU leaders should not discuss a bailout plan at the summit beginning on Thursday because Greece should try to solve its debt problems itself.
Did she also tell that to the looting banks?
She said European governments should help Greece only when it is “at the brink of bankruptcy, which it luckily is not at the moment.’’
Yes, we are going to let you almost fall off that cliff and at the last moment we will help. Hang on, 'kay?
Yeah, women always make better leaders than men because they have compassion.
It is NOT the race, gender, or any other quality that matters when it comes to CLASS, readers!
There is only one small exclusion when you reach that level, and I think (rhymes with) you know who that segment representZ, right?
If aid is needed, “the IMF is a topic we need to look at,’’ she told reporters in Berlin.
Translation: She is passing the bill to you, world taxpayers.
French and EU officials are far more proactive, saying some sort of support package has to be agreed upon, and soon.
The baby's heart just stopped beating, Angela!
And you are just going to stand there and say NO?
The EU Commission’s president, José Manuel Barroso, called last week for EU leaders to speed up agreement on bilateral loans for Greece. France’s foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, said yesterday that he believed a solution could be found in the next few days — possibly a joint loan from the IMF and eurozone nations....
Yeah, they will cobble together something.
France and Italy both said yesterday that they wanted to see quick action on a bailout plan....
Related: European Vacation: Italian Restaurant
You know, it wasn't that good a meal.
Amid the stalemate, the euro has foundered: It fell yesterday to $1.3463, its lowest since March began but picked up after the European Central Bank’s president, Jean-Claude Trichet, said it was “impossible legally’’ for Greece to quit the currency union.
Oh, aren't you GLAD you JOINED, Greeks?
Sounds like a THREAT and a WARNING, doesn't it?
Hey, WHATEVER HAPPENED to those PROTESTS, Globe, because I just made the airport and it looks like I might be here a while.
