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Ben Bernanke: "The ECB Is Well Capitalized"
This will be one of those "one picture is worth a thousand words" posts.
A quick preface:
During Congressional testimony, Ben Bernanke defended the Fed's FX swap lines by saying that the ECB was "well-capitalized." So instead of spending countless words explaining why that may not be quite so, we will merely show the bank's total assets (net of LTRO 2) and its capital and reserves (link). The adjusted balance sheet is pro forma for today's LTRO 2, which we noted earlier will add at least €311 billion in net assets to the ECB's balance sheet, and potentially much more. Assuming the minimum, it means the ECB's balance sheet will now hit €3 trillion. The capital backing these assets is €82 billion across the entire Eurosystem. In other words, the ECB's leverage is 36.6x. This according to Ben Bernanke is "well-capitalized."
And visually.
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Not if they own silver today LOL LOL
Ya, especially if they bought it yesterday at 8PM and sold it today at 9:25AM.
Only a 7 year old would do that, and an even less astute adult think of doing it, eh trav? I've heard about the less sophisticated investors who have a 13 hour investment horizon. Never met one, though. NTMY. LOL.
Wait a minute. You mean Trav is wrong and you don't buy when the price is going up and sell when it goes down?
Why, that would mean that you would sell into strength and buy when there are corrections! Who the heck does that?
Bernake Lends Against the Stock Purchases!
The Money is Rolled over into new Purchases of yet more stock!
The .25% that is paid on money barrowed?? that was raised from JUNK!! Collateral! to begin with? means NOTHING!!
Bernake Does NOT Need QE-3 outright where everyone can see it!
He has been printing every day of every week for YEARS! to push the market this much higher!
But becuase YOU FUCKING PROPOGANDA LOVING TOOLS DONT HAVE A WHITE PAPER ON HOW TO DO IT??? YOU ARE FUCKING BLIND??
It is days like today that I believe you fucking stupid fucks deserve what is happening to you.
Now down arrow for your ego becuase of your ignroance!
Say it with me.
"Serenity now, serenity now, serenity now..."
Keep going. You're doing fine.
Yes, with Trav here we need to keep our "bagholding" wits about us. LOL. What a clown.
ECB should IPO with facebook, the last bubbles of the so called civilized world in 22nd century history books
I saw the headline of this article and I had to laugh out loud.
Bernanke wouldn't recognize capital if it hit him over the head with a chair.
and barack obama is a great president as ronald reagan was a great president. our country is very sound financially. debt is money. paper is worth more than some hard, shiny metal. hell, paper rules! oh yeah, americans are smart!
Wait, wait, wait a minute, will someone plese remind me how we got into this financial crisis in the first place? </sarc>
You didn't question authority... :-)
Because he is a Patriot.
I know this may sound strange to humans but we are in fact an Alien race from the planet Aarghforyedmoin. In our world "everything is in fact the exact opposite of what we say." when we landed here we immediately in your "Wall Street" for only there did we find we find kindred spirits of a sort. things went great until your human year...2008 (known in our world as time zorplutta) then people uttered words like "trillions" and "easings" and quite frankly the strain of our ways became tiresome. We now habitate in your island world with your sandy beaches and your women. Thank you.
I skipped the "mathy thing" myself.
MDB would like a word with you. Somthing about gimmick infringment or something.
Everyone is ignoring the elephant in the room: US debt. Of course Bernanke is going to print, he has no choice. Interest rate is going to be flatline beyond 2014. Why because of US debt; he will monetize all US debt as far as the eye can see. Even if the interest rate creeps up to 2-3%; US is in deep trouble. Once the interest rate payment exceeds 30% of revenue, which will happen to US government this year, the US is toast. He is only saying that QE3 is not on the way to bring down gold and oil to pave way for Obama re-election; he can't let gold and oil skyrocket and wake up the sheeple. All media circuit analysts are clueless. I'll buy more gold on the dip.After that more printing, print the debt away; no way out.
Secondly, i'm sick and tired of reading idiotic posts by morons who got nothing intelligent to say. either make me laugh or educate me. otherwise shut the fuck up.
Agree with what you said EXCEPT the interest rate stuff. Fed will buy any and all government paper - they 'give back' the interest every year. Treasury has no fears of paying interest. The ponzi won't unravel because of interest payments. They've got that base covered
I'm inclined to agree with true brain and respectfully disagree with you concerning interest rates. Net foreign holdings of Treasuries has increased in the past year by $296.5 billion. Although China and Russia have been net sellers, Japan, Canada and the U.K. have more than made up for it. As interest rates rise you will see greater foreign participation.
Feeeeed meeeeee!
when they decide to take the chips off the table - pm's will be down also. i'm long term not a 'trader'. long term you want pm's. but the dow, sp, rus 2000 are going to drop 50% and so will commodities. then the hyperinflation kicks in and the stocks won't go up this time. the commodities will
The Asian PM whipsaw continues, Au up $21 and Ag up $0.44, currently. The Chinese luuv the Bernank and his Ponzi wayz! :>D
You are right, there is no way out, we are boxed in. Most think that if only the Republicans or Democrats push the right buttons all will be well again. We are entering the last bubble, pushed by the central banks monetizing debt and debasing currency. The antidote is physical gold and silver, and staying out of the way of the statist steamroller and social discord to come. We will not be out of this until the early 2020's.
A caller on Peter Schiff's show talked about finally finding the hidden treasure in a Polish home. The family knew their grandparents had hidden all their wealth during WWII and had searched for years to find it. They were certain they'd find silver and gold.
They found long-dead fiat instead.
By my calculations, interest payments as a % of federal tax revenues for 2011 was 20.9%. This is based on $454 billion in interest payments and $2.173 trillion in tax receipts. It is likely your 30% figure for 2012 is way out of line. What are you basing this number on?
You Dare challenge da TRU BRANE(sic)? now now.
It's not out of line because this is only feb/2012. You have to estimate what the deficit will be, what gdp will be (I'm betting flatline to recession toward end of year), what tax revenue will be. And if they do iraq redux in iran, then of course it's going to hit 30%. Even if it does not hit 30% this year, and it hits that next year; tell me what the difference is. the equation and the prognostication have not changed, only delayed a year, not a bit deal. the big picture will still be the same: indefinite printing.
How the Fuck do we make you Laugh? AHHHH AHHHH AHHHH
SILENCE!
I'm laughing already.
"what do you mean my math formula was the entire planet's financial system?"
"Even if the interest rate creeps up to 2-3%; US is in deep trouble. Once the interest rate payment exceeds 30% of revenue, which will happen to US government this year, the US is toast."
On one hand, I agree. If we hit 4 to 5% interest rates on our debt, we likely will have to default.
However, we "only" paid $200+billion in interest this year, and that is "only" 10% of the total budget. The interest rate averaged around 1.5%. To get to your 30% amount, we'd have to be at 4.5%
The real thing is if you have growth, you get inflation, and then you have to raise rates. Well, if we have that, we default, so the government is going to squash any growth.
I think people misunderstand the debt issue thinking that we MUST suffer from inflation from all this supposed money printing. What we really are going to suffer from is no growth just like Japan has.
Nobody is thinking long term anymore. We needed to deleverage, raise taxes a little, balance the budget, and cut entitlements. We could have sacrificed short term pain for long term gain, but we did the opposite.
I think if a president came out and asked that everyone cut back it would be doable. Reagan was the last president who was honest and said that to fix things there would be pain. No one dares say anything like that today. Well, Obama said it and then didn't do it.
I don't think we default as much as have twenty years of no growth. At 1.5% rates, this country can handle $25 billion of debt, and guess what? We are going to be there in five or six years.
.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GhUVXaopHNE/TNICRzwWLUI/AAAAAAAAAVQ/jHvWuMNU6I...
http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/bernanke_humor.gif
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kePdzy2SQd8/TVLTulyfrHI/AAAAAAAAAMc/lw3AQoBBJE...
http://www.bartcop.com/bernanke-weekend.jpg
http://api.ning.com/files/2DLW6vltdjT74ONaGmViWnXKUi73XO-jAQezm0a1PGm5HD...
http://rlv.zcache.com/zombie_capitalism_mugs-p168319990635837495zv8cw_40...
keep an eye on the gold price and silver prices and buy when it's down (like today). Just keep buying small amounts every month because you are going to need protection!!
I've got some SPDR GLD, but do you recommend physical gold and silver?
Depends on whether you prefer paper promises or the actual thing in your pocket.
Live in Canada?
Wasn't Lehman and Bear Sterns well CAPITALIZED also BENNY?
+1.
Why should the Fed only lie once or twice? Their existence is a lie, so that's their MO.
So were Fanron and Fredron
I think the Greek banks are well capitalized too if I follow my central bankster textbook correctly.
"The ECB Is Well Capitalized"
It depends upon what the meaning of the word "well" is.
Now if you take "well" to mean deep hole with toxic sludge at the bottom, he is entirely correct.
Correct. Perfectly well capitalized. Approved by the regulators, etc. everything was fine. Until it wasn't. One of the main tells for a major stage in the present de-fuckafication having passed, will be the death of the Euro. And, I mean, death. not one to one, not "a problem", death. this is one of the things that will have to happen before we can start to get things straightened out. The Euro was a giant mistake; it will be corrected.
LEHMAN and BEAR STERNS are now well capitalized.
Trav, you own silver.
Cut your nose off to spite your face?
the ECB is well capitalized
in fact, all the letters "ECB" are capitalized
An extremely stupid comment.
Trav, was your first menses traumatic?
LOL.
You own silver you hypocrite.
ROFLMAO sold my PM's yesterday. Did you get stuck holding the bag, come on it is another fed public meeting day with Ron Paul there. They had to make a point to him. The dipsticks. Cannot have Ron Paul correct today about silver!
looks like it could ruin a few marriages
ROTF, good one Prains. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuElJTDR5QM&feature=related
http://www.buamai.com/image/46610
Peains, I can't stop laughing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOMqqI-kzHY
The Golden rule.
Someone in author-ity must speak the lie in order to make it the 'truth' for those who wish (or are desperate) to believe the lie.
Ben Bernanke: "The ECB Is Well Capitalized"
Besides. Based upon the (ever changing) rules of the levered credit based fiat game, they really are well capitalized.
thought that was the Hypocritic oath ?
Cog, there is a chance Bernanke actually believes all the shit he's shoveling which makes him a perfect agent of shit promulgation. Perhaps he fails to fully appreciate what being the Director of Intensity Programming, Special High Intensity Training is all about ... and perhaps he doesn't
http://www.fortunecity.com/campus/books/845/shit.htm
"Cog, there is a chance Bernanke actually believes all the shit he's shoveling which makes him a perfect agent of shit promulgation."
I tend to agree. The patsy must always believe what s/he is doing is correct, righteous even (or just God's work).
The very best patsies are those who are extremely intelligent, self assured and (dare I say it) egotistic. Can't have the captain of the Titanic wavering just before plowing into the iceberg......now can we?
Are you saying that the captain of the Titanic....with all those Robber Barons on board.....???
No way Miles...although in my opinion he might have been an "innocent" before he took his position as chairman-- and then later when he likely got the instructions of what he WOULD do to play out the bail outs and the other ponzy scams that have been executed on our country via the worlds largest privately owned corporation that runs our country...for a while, he looked heavily medicated and like someone who was speaking under duress...he may have accomodated to his own prison of lies out of necessity for the sake of his existence, in my opinion. SO in a way, i can be sympathetic toward him for what he might be having to endure as a indentured puppet servant for the owners of the private company for which he is figurehead.
Oh, I by no means am attempting to say he is somehow innocent my dear agrotera. Just a believer in the rightness of his action. As Cog and I well appreciate, a true believer of his theology. Much like Heydrich in his day Bernanke is a brilliant and very destructive man. Increasingly I am of the opinion that the guy is criminally insane and belongs safely ensconced within the confines of the ADX in Florence CO for the remainder of his days.
MK -- Your theory that he is criminally insane fits my observations better than my theory--thank you for your keen insight MK!!!
"Is the Fool actually a Magician?" - Robert Anton Wilson
Something is going down soon, this ain't the usual rhetoric. ISDA, someone going BK, or geo-political.
what makes you think that ... just because Bernanke needs buyers of his paper?
Timmy Geithner and the U.S. Treasury need the buyers...Bernanke merely needs congress to keep borrowing and to renew the Fed's charter next year.
Want to understand how this intentionally comples system works? Read The Creature From Jekyll Island.
"Something is going down soon"
I agree. 3/6/12. something will happen. the nwo is obsessed with numerology and the number 21. 3+6+12=21 and its 21 years to the day of bush's nwo speech. (also 9/11/01 = 9+11+01 = 21)
"Neon" Deion Sanders also wore the number 21. He must be an Illuminari.
yes, this is why that apocalypse happened on 2/7/12...or was it 1/8? Fuck, I am still recovering from it so I can't remember.
12/21/12 Trav, c'mon.
right...if i have sex with your mom 7 times x 3 inches = 21 total inches taken...if i do it on 3/6/12 =21 at 9pm that is 21st hour of 3+6+12= 21...who gives a fuck...GWB couldn't add 2+6 it's all fuzzy math to him
Hey...its Banker speak....
Tyler look - "ECB".. spelled with all caps.. ergo, it is well capitalized.
Yes! That and the "well" of toner cartridges at their disposal
Interesting. I thought he omitted some punctuation in his delivery:
The ECB is, well,......"capitalized."
It's hard to distiguish his intonation so could have been.
"The ECB is well. Capitalized?"
He was misquoted he said "capsized" not capitalized..
But their assets always pay par. Because they keep lending until they do :D
My favorite is when he said the Fed doesn't own gold.
Don't you people reailze this HAS to happen for Bernanke to QE? The market is essentially forcing him to do it. Just buy the dips, don't listen to the trolls.
One could write a book about all of Bernanke's quotes and what happened after he said those things. Would make for fun reading.
Well, maybe; If you had a really sick sense of humor.
No shit! The ECB is well funded - they're backstopped by him and OUR money!
Berkacke is a new muppet character. his specialty is he doesn't know how to tell the truth--ever. and this pathetic liar supposedly graduated from MIT with a Ph.d?
Evil Muppet.
anybody seen geithner or corzine lately? at least bennie seems to be 'clean'.
Thanks Germany....you rock.
ECB
I think he was referring to a "relatively" well capitalized ECB comparing to the US FED which is probably 50:1 leveraged.
Bernanke is the "Greatest of All Time"
No other central banker in history has been able to:
1) Rally stocks 100% in the midst of the worst recession in 75 years
2) Crash Treasury market yields to 45-year lows at the same time
3) "Whip Inflation" by uttering a few words that sends commodities crashing
4) Engineer multiple bailouts and rescues, all with resounding success
And the whole time, he remains unflappable in the face of constant criticism from the Tea Partiers and verious members of Congress
Merry him then.
It would be a merry marriage, right?
Hey Robo - been to a grocery store lately? How about a gas station?
"Whip inflation". Kind of like Gerald Ford did, eh?
https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcST599gXnK7WD33FzHQ-...
Yeah. Inflation is "whipped" - just like Robo's mom each and every night in his basement, right Robo?
Loses US AAA credit rating and reserve currrency status in the process.
Causes 2008 food riots across the globe leading to the Arab spring from easy money
Surf0, that's right! Count Suicide Vampire Squid of the Great Wal Mart of China does not like it if there are no sheep to fill the Fed Head in the bed he made, he just can't sleep if he's not at least screwing somebody. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP_az7U7YjI&feature=related
we lost reserve currency status? has the sdr been implemented? did i miss something???
No you didn't miss anything ... just a matter of time though.
No other central banker has pressed CTRL+P that much.
Don't give him too much credit. It's simply his ability to press CTRL+P coupled with scared EUROS coming here.
Dont worry youll see 14k on the dow by the end of the year. The year after you will see 10k so keep your hats at the ready.
won't be the same this time. it won't come back. more like 6 or 8 k. seriously.
Wouldn't be surprised to see the market tank 1-2 months before the election - LOL
I liked your pink Satin Bra better, that you used to wear. I'm not reading any of your posts until you put my favorite bra back on; so there.
Isn't the fact that he can both rally stocks and crush Treasury yields a bad thing?
bernake is a genius. what's bad for you might not be bad for his clients. he works for lloyd and jamie. as does obama.
You're almost as funny as China-bot AnAnonymous...
robo - everybody likes to try to take you down - but you are right.
(for now). and that's the whole point. take advantage of it all now while you can, because it's only a small number of people that can take advantage of it. get on the bus. there will be one stop and one stop only and then everyone else that stays on the bus gets to have lotsoffun.
The "short bus"? thanks, anyway. you can have my seat.
why, oh why, must this idiot continue to post here.....
Sub-prime is well contained
36.6 x leverage is bad enough, but consider the real value of the rubbish on their books and its VERY bad and probably more like 60 x levered if the rubbish was valued correctly.
if the red area was her stuff and the green was his stuff that could be a closet.
If red was my desire for bunga-bunga and green was hers, it would be reality.. damn..
"Mission Accomplished"
But but but the classic consensus voodoo jungle economics rule of thumb says more debt/leverage is more growth!
Beard Monkey truly is the best of comedians. It would be even more fun to listen to this guy if it wasn't so TRAGIC...
You missed the typo...
He said "well crapitalized..."
lol, all we are saying is...that we be at par!!!
Is what Ben and Jerry (of ECB) now sing.
With a D/E ratio of 36 they beat all other banks hands down. But that is the exorbitant privilege of Ben and Jerry.
Next head of the ECB will be Jon Corzine - his kind of leverage.
define "well"
A deep hole in the ground...
Well Capitalized ! Well Capitalized ! Bwa-haa-haa ha, har, har, har. Oh, G od, stop; it only hurts when I laugh. Well capitalized, OMFG, that is funny. What a Joke.
PPT was heavily shorting PMs today
Yes. Bernanke leased a tonne of his "Gold certificates", that's all. Move along....
Yes...Lack of knowlege of whether there are any gold holdings and then a mention of "gold certificates" keeps bouncing around in my head. What kind of "gold certificates" is Benny sitting on anyway?
The kind that says, "Get out of jail free".
almost fell off my chair when he said that. The man is clearly sick and delusional
Laughing. My. Fucking. Ass. Off.
everyone is well capitalized........that is , until they aren't
Yes, that's the new normal alright. It's horrifying to realize that this was run by their psychologists first, and they expect that it will go down alright, with "the majority". Groan.
No QE3?
The markets are so stupid.
What, $2 Trillion in Europe isn't QE?
Non-stop currency swaps to Europe via the FED isn't QE?
Ben says no QE in word therefore there is no QE. "Just don't throw me in that there briar patch."
Oy Vey!
There is no further need for liquidity injections. All major banks have sufficient capital to withstand any downturn in the European economy. As currencies stabalize, it is time to sell precious metals which will underperform going forward.
Well capitalized or can print their way out of any hole?
"I am not a crook."
"Read my lips; no new taxes"
"I did not have sexual relations with that woman."
"Mission accomplished"
Except Georgie Boy wasn't lying; they accomplished their mission.
"Is are children learning".
"I am the Decider."
:O
We can only hope the Bernank will be "well hung" for his deeds. Back off Bawney, I didn't mean it that way.
Is that bad? My kid has more money in his account.
Balance sheet considerations should not seriously constrain central bank operations - Ben Bernanke
http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2003/20030531/default.h...
I'll chip in to have this printed in a full page ad ...
If I had ability to print money, my leverage would be at least 100x.
I am sure that everyone one of the ZH readers will scoff at this statement.
Most ZH readers have their heads up their arses. Central bankers know what tyhey are doing. The readership of this blog appears to be comprises of school boys and conspiracy nuts.
Sad but true and Tyler knows it too. Two years ago this place was pumping with intelligence and good thought provocing discussion. Now? It's apparant most comments are moronic and infantile and thus mostly derive from trolls.
YET IT'S STILL MY NUMBER ONE SOURCE FOR GREAT INFORMATION! Thanks Zero Hedge!
It's just that the readership is mostly depressing and living in fear.
There is a wonderful script that lets one block asinine users. It's not too user friendly, but well worth the effort to get it running.
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/124836
ECB is well capitalized but gold and silver (especially coins and bars) are not.
ecb oh wait, ECB there, recapitalized, just like ben does.
If gold was up 3%, I am sure it would on top of your page. But since it's crashing, you won't talk about it. (I understand that the reason for the gold crash is murky at best but still ... )
Actually it was on top until it rotated.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/europe-closes-lows-stigma-trade-ramps
The EUR tumbled over 100pips towards 1.3350 as the USD rallied back to the week's highs. Silver (and Gold) crashed into the European close (down over 7% on the day at one point) while Treasuries sold off and European sovereigns leaked wider (except Portugal which crashed and Italy which compressed modestly). Quite a day - Tyler Durden
Ever try actually reading botboy?
PWNED!
(whatever pwned means lol)
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/gold-silver-plunge-fears-monetary-punchbow...