The End.

The media is responsible. They are reporting facts with comment and editorial , like they do on any subject. They are not fabricating any evidence. I imagine they are under reporting a lot of it due to the fact there seems to be a new shock all the time out of the blue.

At least Citigroup made a bit of loot ;)
 
BBSA said:
I give up, please continue with your negative complain.
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Thanks, that's gracious. But I'm positive that I'm not negative - just calling it as I see it based on some disturbing facts. Interpretations of facts differ, of course, but I tend not to believe 'optimists' who tell me the train I see heading straight at us will be no problem if we just ignore it. Better to jump out of the way if you see it coming, even if you land flat on your face. ;)
 
Ya , good news indeed. Then China report 25% drop in exports YoY , and then Norway Gov loses $92bn from their pension pot. Those stats just bite off your ass. China is going to control the next bombshell.
 
I love how the US is basically just short of begging the Chinese not pull out of buying American bonds.
 
ECB president, Jean-Claude Trichet, predicted recently that the global economy was nearing a turning point. This is not consistent with some other central bank leaders from around the globe. But as president of a major central bank, his word can be taken as some positive economic news for the entire globe.

Link
 
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BBSA said:
ECB president, Jean-Claude Trichet, predicted recently that the global economy was nearing a turning point.* This is not consistent with some other central bank leaders from around the globe. But as president of a major central bank, his word can be taken as some positive economic news for the entire globe.

Link
Click to expand...

:(
Ask the Spanish......
 
UK debt to GDP ratio: Going on 500%

Could the UK survive this? I mean, seriously, how can they ever repay this debt mountain given that their production industries are pretty much toast and the lion's share of their population is employed in the "service industry".

But even more worrying than the state of the British housing market, is the overall state of the nation's finances. Personal debt in the UK, at nearly £1.5trillion, has overtaken annual GDP – in other words, we owe more than we produce in a single year. On top of this, company borrowings add nearly another £2 trillion to the debt pile.

But the real 'bete noire' is what the government is racking up. Numis has totted up the numbers and comes to a terrifying conclusion: underlying public debt next year will reach a staggering 282% of annual GDP.

The firm's estimate of unfunded public sector pension liabilities - that's money that the government will have to pay out in pensions but which it doesn't actually have right now - comes to almost £3trn. Add it all together, and Britain's total debt mountain will stand at over 500% of GDP by 2010.

To put this figure in context, it's far bigger than at any point in our history, including wartime. And this is our fiscal position as we go into possibly the biggest recession in living memory. It's like owing more than five times your gross income - just before you lose your job.

So what does this mean? Well, for the government, it means having to sell lots more gilts to raise funds. But that will get much tougher as the debt mountain continues to grow, which means the pound will keep falling as international faith in Britain's creditworthiness steadily drops. In turn, that will push long-term interest rates ever higher to cajole foreign investors to part with their cash. Conventional gilt prices will tumble.

This could turn into a vicious downward spiral. Eventually the UK will be unable to fund itself - and will just go bankrupt. Yes, we could print oodles more money to 'pay' the government's bills. But that road just leads to hyper-inflation, like pre-revolutionary France in 1789, the 1923 Weimar Republic - and the tragedy that is Zimbabwe today.
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The IMF may have to take over the UK finances like they did in the mid 70s to sort out Gordon Browns spending spree. The guy is a plank.
 
EU employers association sees 4.5 million jobs lost in 2009

BRUSSELS — Some 4.5 million Europeans risk losing their jobs this year due to the increasingly severe recession, the president of the BusinessEurope employers association said yesterday.

"We expect 4.5 million Europeans to lose their jobs because of the crisis in 2009," Ernest-Antoine Seilliere told reporters in Brussels.

The European Union’s Eurostat data agency estimates that 18.412 million were unemployed in the 27-nation bloc in January.

"Unemployment is going to get a lot worse, it is really going to be a dire year," the head of the European Trade Union Confederation John Monks said in news conference.

France on Tuesday attacked the "scandalous" behavior of its biggest company, oil giant Total, after it said it would slash jobs despite reaping the highest annual profit in French corporate history.
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http://www.bworldonline.com/BW031309/content.php?id=082
 
Switzerland depreciating the Franc

Meanwhile Switzerland is depreciating its own currency.

Market Scan
Swiss Kick Off 'Currency War'
Vidya Ram , 03.13.09, 9:10 AM ET

LONDON -

Switzerland's latest move to weaken the Swiss franc marks the first time in the current financial crisis that a G10 nation has intervened in forex markets to support a flagging economy. It is probably only a matter of time before others--notably Japan--follow suit.

Japan and Switzerland are both export-dependent economies and fund currencies for the carry trade, which means that direct intervention to weaken the yen could follow Thursday's decision by the Swiss National Bank. Japan last used this strategy in 2004. "Japan is also facing a severe slowdown and deflationary pressure and the Swiss action has increased speculation that Japan may follow the same route again," said BNP Paribas analyst Ian Stannard. "The Japanese yen is under pressure at the moment."

The Swiss franc had another day of weakness against the euro on Friday, with the euro buying 1.5328 Swiss francs, up from 1.5308 Swiss francs on Thursday. Switzerland's currency fell as much as 3.4% on Thursday afternoon when the central bank announced a string of policies to support the Swiss economy.

The Japanese yen also came under pressure Friday, falling 0.9% against the euro, which was buying 126.93 yen, from 125.77, and falling 0.8% against the dollar, to 98.295 to the greenback. The exchange traded fund, the CurrencyShares Swiss Franc Trust had fallen 2.6% on Thursday, while the CurrencyShares Japanese Yen Trust fell 0.4%.

Russia is one of the few other nations to have weakened their currencies in the current financial crisis. Earlier this year the Russian central bank managed the gradual depreciation of the ruble by widening the band within which it was prepared to defend the currency (by buying foreign currencies and selling rubles), allowing it to fall in value against a euro-dollar basket.

The Swiss National Bank announced its currency intervention on Thursday as it cut interest rates to 0.25% from 0.50%. It also increased liquidity in the Swiss capital market by buying local corporate bonds, and carrying out more repo auctions for short term credit to banks.

The central bank is forecasting Swiss gross domestic product to shrink by up to 3.0% this year. The country's economy has come under pressure as leading Swiss banks like UBS and Credit Suisse have faced multi-billion dollar write-downs related to investments in toxic U.S. assets, while engineering firms such as Sulzer and pharmaceutical firms such as Roche are being hit by flagging international demand for exports. (See "Sell The Franc.")

Meanwhile on Friday, the Swiss government held a meeting to tackle the other major threat to the Swiss economy: a looming global crackdown on tax evasion, which could threaten Switzerland's long tradition of bank secrecy. On Thursday, Liechtenstein said it would be dropping its distinction between tax fraud and evasion, putting pressure on Switzerland to follow suit. (See "Liechtenstein Now Less Of A Tax Haven.")
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http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/13/swiss-franc-yen-markets-currencies-intervention_print.html
 
PeterCH said:
Meanwhile on Friday, the Swiss government held a meeting to tackle the other major threat to the Swiss economy: a looming global crackdown on tax evasion, which could threaten Switzerland's long tradition of bank secrecy.
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:D

Since the days of the Nazis the Swiss have never cared one little bit if money held in their vaults was dripping with blood. Serves them right.
 
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