Implode-Explode Heavy Industries news feed

Ukraine agrees tough austerity package to gain $17.5bn IMF bailout

Wed, 04 Mar 2015 18:07:07 GMT

``The Ukrainian parliament has approved amendments the 2015 budget that sees drastic pension cuts and energy bills tripling. The changes are needed to comply with the terms of the agreed $17.5 billion IMF bailout package.''

Greece taps public sector cash to help cover March needs

Wed, 04 Mar 2015 17:59:35 GMT

``At least part of the state's cash needs for the month will be met by repo transactions in which pension funds and other state entities sitting on cash lend the money to the country's debt agency through a short-term repurchase agreement for up to 15 days, debt agency officials told Reuters. ''

The 35 year drought in real wages for American workers

Wed, 04 Mar 2015 17:58:30 GMT

``Inflation is insidious because it plays tricks on your financial mind. Say you get a 2 percent raise. You feel great about this. But say the overall inflation rate is up by 3 percent. In reality, you are now behind the curve by 1 percent. Compound this over the years and you see how the middle class can fall behind. And that is actually what has happened. ''

Poll gives France's far-right National Front party boost ahead of regional vote

Wed, 04 Mar 2015 17:55:47 GMT

`` the high level of approval -- being recognised for having "Republican values" is a prized political asset -- suggests that the National Front's (FN) strategy of rehabilitating the party's negative image through relentless domination of the media appears to be enjoying some success.''

Yellen Turning from Friend to Foe for Dollar Bull

Wed, 04 Mar 2015 17:54:02 GMT

``While Bloomberg's Dollar Spot Index climbed to a record on Tuesday, the measure is rising at the slowest pace since June and speculators including hedge funds are paring bets on how much the currency will strengthen. Yellen told Congress last week she won't be locked into a timetable for boosting borrowing costs, just days after minutes of the Fed's January meeting underlined the damage a stronger dollar can do to the economy.''

Bill Gross Says Currency War Risks Slowing Global Growth

Wed, 04 Mar 2015 17:53:08 GMT

``Gross wrote, low to negative interest rates hamper the functioning of capital markets and prompt investors to take on higher risk to boost returns, making the financial system more vulnerable. That's one reason why the U.S. Federal Reserve appears on course to start raising interest rates as early as June, he wrote.''

Why the ‘Smart Money' Is Bailing Out of the Bull Market

Wed, 04 Mar 2015 17:46:08 GMT

Investors are feeling good right now. Really good. By some measures, bullishness has reached levels not seen in more than 10 years. But the positive vibes are at odds with some hard data that suggests we're on the threshold of a "come back to reality" moment.''

Mortgage Lenders Cause Another Homeowner Death

Wed, 04 Mar 2015 17:43:52 GMT

Yesterday, a 67-year-old Valrico man died after collapsing in a Hillsborough courtroom during a foreclosure hearing. The pending foreclosure on his primary residence went into foreclosure last year.

Investor survey shows 38 pct chance of eurozone break-up in 12 months

Tue, 03 Mar 2015 18:34:05 GMT

``Investor expectations of the euro zone breaking apart have risen to their highest level in two years, a survey showed on Tuesday, even after Greece agreed a financial lifeline with its euro zone partners.''

The Great Global Monetary Easing of 2015 May Be Done by Midyear

Tue, 03 Mar 2015 18:31:41 GMT

``That backdrop has JPMorgan predicting the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in June for the first time since 2006 and, in doing so, end the international easing cycle. On the other hand, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley predict docile inflation will persuade the Fed to hold off.''

Greece eyes last central bank funds to avert IMF default

Tue, 03 Mar 2015 18:30:56 GMT

Yanis Varoufakis, the finance minister, sought to silence such talk over the weekend, telling Associated Press that a default to the IMF was out of the question, even if a halt in payments to the EU institutions remains a serious threat. "We are not going to be the first country not to meet our obligations to the IMF. We shall squeeze blood out of stone if we need to do this on our own, and we shall do it," he said.
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Mr Varoufakis said Greece did not want any further money if it meant having to buckle to Troika terms. "We won't take the next tranche if the price is having to continue with the 'Memorandum'. That is not what the people voted for," he said. It is a thinly-veiled warning that Greece will default on €300bn of combined liabilities to EMU entities and states if pushed too hard, regardless of what this implies for monetary union.
Whatever piece of paper they signed in Brussels 10 days ago, the two sides are still talking past each other.

Spain to split? Snap vote on Catalan independence

Tue, 03 Mar 2015 18:27:15 GMT

``Artur Mas, the president of Catalonia, told CNBC Monday that a referendum was needed to see if the majority of Catalonians still wanted independence. The region has long pushed for independence from the rest of Spain and, despite being dealt a blow when Scotland chose to remain a part of the U.K. last year, Mas is still confident an independent Catalonia would prosper.''

US to Deploy Six National Guard Companies to Ukraine This Week

Tue, 03 Mar 2015 18:26:41 GMT

``US 173rd Airborne Brigade Commander Michael Foster said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC said the US would deploy personnel by the end of this week to train the Ukrainian national guard.''

Ukraine central bank declares fourth-largest lender insolvent

Tue, 03 Mar 2015 18:19:38 GMT

``Ukraine's central bank declared the country's fourth-largest lender, Delta Bank, insolvent on Tuesday, saying it had adopted risky policies during a period of economic turmoil.''

US Savings Rate Surges To Highest Since 2012 As Consumers Save "Gas Tax Cut" Instead Of Spending

Tue, 03 Mar 2015 14:16:17 GMT

``US personal spending dropped 0.2% in January - twice as bad as the 0.1% drop expected and the 3rd miss in a row.''

HOW'S THAT DEFLATION WORKING OUT FOR YOU?

Tue, 03 Mar 2015 01:11:26 GMT

The BLS put out their monthly CPI lie last week. They issued the proclamation that inflation is dead. Did you know your costs are 0.1% lower than they were one year ago. They then used these deflation numbers to proclaim your real wages soared last month. It's all good. The American consumer is so flush with cash, they decided to spend less money for the second month in a row.
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And now for the BIGGEST LIE in the entire report. The have the balls to tell you that health insurance only makes up 0.753% of your entire annual budget and it has FALLEN by 0.5% in the last year. This must be some cruel Obamacare joke perpetrated by these government apparatchiks. I haven't met anyone who has seen their health insurance costs go down in the last year. My premiums went up by 20% and my annual family deductible went from $0 to $2,000. How the BLS can get away with issuing this drivel is beyond my comprehension. It's pure and utter bullshit.

IMF bent its rules to hobble Greece with unsustainable debt

Mon, 02 Mar 2015 22:33:46 GMT

Philippe Legrain, a former adviser to the European Commission president, told Arte that the IMF managing director at the time, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, overrode objections from IMF staff so that Greece could pay the money it owed to French banks and not endanger his chances to run for president in France.
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"Despite the IMF's rules that it is not supposed to resort to exceptional access lending when a country's public debt is unsustainable or when the chances of program success are not good, the IMF has managed to lend to Greece some 1,860% of quota," wrote Desmond Lachman, former deputy director of the IMF's policy department. "That is more than three times the normal maximum IMF limit for such lending."

India's Tata strikes a deal with Russia's biggest coal producer (+OLIGARCH BUYS GERMAN NORTH SEA ASSETS)

Mon, 02 Mar 2015 22:32:05 GMT

``Tata Power, the energy arm of Tata Group and India's largest integrated power company by its own estimate, announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Russia's biggest coal producer Siberian Coal Energy Co (SUEK), aimed at "identifying and developing opportunities across the energy chain." '' -- Also of interest: Russian oligarch buys North Sea oil and gas assets.

MFI-Miami Calls On The FDIC To Fast Track Investigations Of Sterling National Bank

Mon, 02 Mar 2015 19:00:32 GMT

Steve Dibert, CEO of the internationally recognized mortgage fraud investigation company, MFI-Miami, LLC called on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to fast track their investigations of Sterling National Bank (FDIC Certificate #30337) in Montebello, New York that were triggered by complaints filed by Sterling National Bank customer Bill Youngblood of Warwick, New York.

Greek debt becoming less sustainable

Mon, 02 Mar 2015 15:03:59 GMT

``The combination of a higher debt stock and a likely flattish nominal GDP will push the debt-to-GDP ratio to higher levels rather than lower as envisaged by the economic program this year.''