Barofsky Likely To Seek Criminal Or Civil Charges Against New York Fed, Geithner Targetted?

And so the Abacus fallout is about to hit precisely where the culprit for it all resides: the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Could there be justice in this world after all? From Bloomberg: "Barofsky says the question of whether the New York Fed engaged in a coverup will result in some sort of action. “We’re either going to have criminal or civil charges against individuals or we’re going to have a report,” Barofsky says. “This is too important for us not to share our findings.” He won’t say whether the investigation is targeting Geithner personally."

It's Official- Greek Debtor In Possession Loan Now €100-125 Billion; US Contribution To Greek Bailout: At Least $7 Billion

It's Official: Greek Bailout Expanded To €100-€120 billion over three years (40 billion a year) according to Strauss-Khan, which would eliminate Greek funding needs for the next 3 years via a primed DIP funded by Europe and the US. German contribution to be no less than €25 billion. IMF role will likely be at least €25 billion if not more. At about 20% US contribution to the IMF, the US taxpayers just got hit with a $7 billion bailout fee to make sure French and German banks don't have to Mark-to-Bankruptcy their Greek exposure. This is definitely not a done deal: Germany's SPD says they will not vote for the aid, which according to preliminary rumors will make all eurozone member states subordinate creditors to the new "DIP" facility. All those buying this rally are assuming that Germans will go quietly with the new proposal even though they threw up all over the old "only" €10 billion demand. Oh, and wait until Greeks realize what the "austerity" terms of the new IMF package are. We are sure the Greek airforce will just call in sick for the rest of the century at that point.

Frontrunning: April 28

• Greece official: IMF loan boost possible (WSJ)
• Greece bondholders may lose $265 billion in default (Bloomberg)
• Stocks drop as sovereign-debt crisis spreads, Greek bonds slump (Bloomberg)
• First quarter GDP is history, beware of a 2011 slowdown (Barrons)
• China is undermining the dollar by the back door (FT)
• Hedge-fund bust will bear Goldman's fingerprints (Bloomberg)
• Mexico issues travel warning for Arizona over law (Bloomberg)
• Goldman grilled: A ghastly day on Capitol Hill for Goldman Sachs’s top brass (Economist)

Greece Is Now Riskiest Country In The World, 50% Cumulative Default Probability

With its CDS at 875, today, Greece is riskier than dictatorical (but Fed Free) Venezuela and perpetually bankrupt Argentina. All the hedge funds who went long Greek bonds with or without protection are getting destroyed. And some very prominent names did. We are waiting for the latest HSBC report to confirm this.

Country         Spread       CPD

• Greece:       874.22      50.66
• Venezuela:   841.28     44.57
• Argentina:    832.50     43.17
• Pakistan:      708.40     38.22
• Ukraine:       601.41     34.24

Goldman Gets Even More Skeptical On Greece And European Domino Theory

"What could go wrong? In the short term, I can think of two serious risks: First, a collapse of the Greek financial system, e.g. via a run on banks. If that were to happen, I would expect an immediate guarantee by the government and recapitalisation of the banks, as necessary, implicitly underwritten by the ECB. Second, a sudden dramatic political shift in Greece away from the present policy towards one of confrontation with its creditors. In that case, the international support becomes obsolete, of course, and we’ll be heading straight towards debt restructuring. In the longer term, all the same risks that I have discussed for months remain, including the government’s ability and willingness to carry through the necessary reforms. The required cocktail of tough fiscal measures and structural reforms aimed at restoring competitiveness has long made me think that the odds are against them making it longer term." Goldman Sachs - can you say unfilled axes?

Red Lights Flashing For UK Credit Spreads According To CDS Market

The CDS market, as always, is prophetic to the dot: after main deriskers in the past two weeks were Spain, Portugal and France, so far the spread blow out in these markets has materialized like a Swiss watch. Which is why Ambrose Evans-Pritchard better be looking at this week's DTCC data, because the credit market is flashing a bright red warning light over his favorite bankrupt country - the UK (incidentally, the week's largest net derisker, just after Goldman Sachs). Second in order of sovereign implosion - Ireland. The British Isles, at least according to CDS traders who time after time prove they have far more sense than their equity equivalents, are about to become a hotbed of credit activity, and not in a good way. The other countries that fill out the top 10 deriskers in the prior week: Brazil, Germany (yeah, failed auctions do that), Argentina (yeah, persistent threat of default does that too), Mexico (yeah, living next to a money printing terrorist does that), Ukraine, Korea, Belgium and China.

Guest Post: Amid Push For Renewable Energy, Saudi Arabia Cautiously Turns Over Green Leaf

The promise of green energy has intrigued the Middle East, where concern about future reserves runs deep, but Saudi Arabia's recent plan for a multibillion-dollar investment in traditional oil projects underscores lingering concern about betting on renewables. Riyadh plans to spend $170 billon over the next five years on energy and oil refining efforts; the country's state-owned oil company, Saudi Aramco, will bankroll little more than half this endeavor, according to the Saudi Gazette. The energy giant called it unrealistic for Saudi Arabia to plow into alternative energy sources when the No. 1 cash crop of oil has built its wealth, the report states. "I don’t think that’s surprising,” said Eurasia Group energy analyst Will Pearson of the guarded approach, adding that Saudi Aramco has long been hesitant given the state’s status as the world’s leading oil producer.