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The ECB Has Opened Pandora’s Box
Submitted by Mark Grant, author of "Out of the Box and onto Wall Street"
The ECB has Opened Pandora’s Box
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. “
-Thomas Jefferson
I am not going to speculate about anything this morning. No guesses about what the Finance Ministers might do on Monday, no simple addition or subtraction that the data used to forecast Greece’s return to a 120% debt to GDP ratio is a falsification of the numbers, no mention that only nineteen cents of any bailout for Greece would actually go to the country; I am not going to discuss anything except what the European Central Bank has actually done and what we now know with a one hundred percent (100%) certainty and the horrifying implications of their actions.
“There are no necessary evils in government. Its evils exist only in its abuses.”
-Andrew Jackson
The ECB, on its own and without judicial or parliamentary review, has swapped their Greek debt for new Greek debt that is not subject to any “collective action clause.” They did this unilaterally and without the consent of any other sovereign debt bond owners of Greek debt. They did this without objection of any nation in Europe. They have retroactively changed the indenture, the contract made by Greece with all of the buyers of their bonds, when the debt was issued. There is no speculation involved in these statements, there is no longer any guesswork on what might be; the ECB swapped their bonds for new Greek bonds with the assent of the Greek government and it is now a done deal.
Having then done this; the implications must now be considered utilizing the clear light of unadulterated reason. The issue now is no longer a one-off Greek issue but a full on ECB issue. We know now that the ECB can retroactively change the rules, change an indenture, so that if the ECB can do this with Greece then it can certainly do it with any sovereign debt in Europe. If they can exempt themselves from a “collective action clause” then they can exempt themselves from any clause, in any sovereign indenture, for any European country. The fact that they are now clearly senior to any other bond holder, or more aptly put, that any private bond owner is now subordinated to the ECB is one consideration but hardly the most important one. The incredibly grim reality now is that any European and all European sovereign debt can have their indentures changed by the ECB when it is to their advantage. It is the “collective action clause” today but tomorrow it could be the maturity or the coupon or any other terms and conditions in an indenture. It is Greece today but tomorrow it could be France or Portugal or Italy. The “Rule of Law” has been abrogated and tossed aside in the name of political contrivance.
“Necessity; the tyrant’s plea.”
-John Milton
Since the ECB can now retroactively change any bond contract to whatever it likes and with any nation in its dominion then the valuation of European sovereign debt must be re-examined for what it really is which is no longer what anyone previously thought. Starkly put; the bonds issued by the sovereign nations in Europe are no longer pari passu, on equal footing, with the bonds issued in the United States. We have just passed a clearly defined “break point” where the legal rules were changed to the great disadvantage of all the private debt holders. The risk of ownership of European sovereign debt is now infinitely more dangerous in my estimation than it was last week. We still do not know if the IMF will demand and receive the same special treatment but I assert that it no longer matters. The actions of the European Central Bank are all that was necessary to radically alter the value of European sovereign debt and it is just not me but any number of large financial institutions that are in shock given what has happened with one of the largest and most respected bond investors in the world telling me that “financial repression is the softer word for it.”
Leaving anger and hostility aside; European sovereign debt must now be examined with a new set of metrics. How much yield would investors demand if an IBM indenture, as an example, had language that stated “This indenture is subject, at any time during the life of the bond, to any changes mandated by the Federal Reserve Bank.” Stated another way, what yields would be acceptable to bond investors if there was a Federal statute that said “All indentures in the United States may be changed at will by the Federal Reserve Bank upon their sole discretion.” No “Rule of Law,” no judicial appeal and a fait accompli whenever desired. This is, in terrifying fact, exactly what the European Central Bank has done and if we no longer know what we are buying and if the terms and conditions of an investment can be altered retroactively at will without the consent of bond holders and to the advantage of the ECB then either we should not buy these credits, as in Atlas shrugged, or yields should be in the mid-range of junk bonds because European sovereign bond indentures now are worth no more than the paper on which they are printed.
The European Central Bank, in a very misguided attempt to protect itself, has now opened Pandora’s Box. I doubt if they even realize what they have done; but they will, most assuredly they will. The consequences of their horrendous mistake will soon be upon them as institutions not coerced or forced into buying European sovereign debt will be leaving the playing field en masse as the realization dawns upon investors of just what has taken place. You cannot fool all of the people all of the time and the people that manage money for a living are not a forgiving group when governments try to supersede their lawful rights.
“Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it; and this I know, my lords: that where law ends, tyranny begins.”
-William Pitt
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"The ECB Has Opened Pandora’s Box" is an exaggeration. What happened is just that the guy with the bigger gun (the ECB) has tried to fetch some more collateral than the guys with the smaller guns (we).
I tend to agree with freegolder http://www.zerohedge.com/news/ecb-has-opened-pandora%E2%80%99s-box#comme... in that matter. Would be nice if he is right.
You mean the ECB just Corzinefucked everybody?
Be careful, and apply lube beforehand.
Coconut oil works best! Stains though.
How has the ECB, "retroactively changed the indenture, the contract made by Greece with all of the buyers of their bonds, when the debt was issued"? I'll figure this out on my own but if you choose to write an article on a subject a few facts would add a lot.
Got it. the ECB gets rid of the CAC in their bond holdings and Greece crams a restructuring on the remaining bonds with a CAC. Seems like the mother-of-all preference payments and illegal in concept. But then again, when has the Global Bank Cartel ever followed the law? On to Portugal!
"They have retroactively changed the indenture, the contract made by Greece with all of the buyers of their bonds, when the debt was issued," still seems technically inaccurate. They unilaterally gave themselves better bonds to screw the bonds with a CAC.
It' become the norm not to present basic facts in articles. How many articles claiming Romney won a particular primary explain who Romney is. I've seen many articles where the writer idn't even mention the vote totals.
In this case the article is about new news on an old topic so the old topic is not discussed in length. The greece changed the terms of ECB bonds so that they would not be subject to the same agreements being made with private bond holders. The situatuation is irrelevent to the point being made. If governments can change the terms of an agreement after the fact then the law is meaningless and you and I have no protections any more. What's more, in a broader sense, nobody has protection in any agreement and commerce cannot occur,
We acccepted this when we started talking about people getting too rich. We pay them for goods because we agree with the seller that what we bought was worth what we paid, and then when the sum of all our collective payments become too large we want to take some of that wealth to make things more fair. We didn't talk about fair when we obtained thebenefit of the item we purchased, but we use it to alter the agreement between buyer and seller as to the value of an item they made for us after the purchase has occurred.
This is similar. The collective good is being deemed more important that meer agreements. Except that what our glorious central planners have neglected to consider is that our entire economic system resets on the idea of protecting both parties in a transaction and treating all parties equally. When central banks suddently become preferential, then the people have no more property rights, bond buyers stop buying because they cannot be certain they will be paid and the only purchasers left o sovergn debt are central banks. This is very very bad.
Two words: spell check.
Three more words: General Motors/Chrysler.
An acronym and another word: MF Global.
Spare me the false shock. There has been no contract law for years numby.
Somebody found spell check! I am like a proud father.
Naw I re-read after I posted and realized how bad it was :)
Agreed, Sorry, hard to type on tiny laptop keybords with fat fingers. I'm not shocked at the fact there is no contract law. I'm shocked in that I think they just hot themselves in the foot.
Niceness? Very confusing. And you may be right on you last point.
The ruling elite has never had any shame or moral fiber.
NOT SO FAST
I have no reason to believe, like most of you here, that the ECB are a bunch of idiots. They knew this will imply suboridation mumbo but who cares? Then you get CAC! But it will be 25 cents on the dollar! This actually fuck it back to the speculators ... those who thought they'd the ECB by the balls, because ECB cannot yield to Greek Sonventriy CAC retro active... this will lead to insanitify of legal issues inside the EU. No. We swap the bonds, we get CAC, then the ECB declare it will match that offer to be fair to everyone - even though he was not FORCED into it --- get it? I think its a nice plot, and it seems to be working!
All purchasers of government bonds care whether in a default they willl be shafted. It is a central part of the equation of risk vs reward. In increasing the risk they have insured the bond buyers will require an increase in reward.
You lost me at, "I have no reason to believe...that the ECB are a bunch of idiots"
And that was the only part of you comment that was lucid. Get it?
How is "rule of law" violated?
If you and I both have a note, say a mortgage, with the same bank and they decide to restructure your loan but not mine, what's the big deal?
It only becomes an issue if I am then forced to take a haircut on terms which are worse than what you negotiated.
So far, there is lots of talk about a haircut, lots of trades based on its possibility, but nothing concrete.
What the ECB is effectively stating then is that the terms of these new notes is the floor on future losses, which is an implicate guarantee to all other bondholders, right?
Wrong. It all reads like ECB will not have to take the write-down crammed on other bondholders. But I have been wrong before.
I shudder to think I will quote Orwell, but "Some pigs are more equal than others" plain and simple like that. Don't like it, go buy Chinese bonds.
I don't about other countries, but the US government debt is not legitimate, and thus lenders will have no legitimate claim when US government defaults.
www.endofinnocence.com/2010/09/us-federal-debt-problem-solved.html
all walrus
are created equal ...
just, some walrus
have more blubber
than others..
One quote you forgot to reference:
"Just when you think you have all the answers, I change the questions." - "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.
"
I don't think you are going to like what I say. You actually get good advice here all the time, but then folks think it is too extreme or tin hat, so they don't hear the advice and shop for other options (this is fine to do, I am still shopping and listening myself). Think of all I am getting ready to say in the same way you would think about insurance:
1. Get your personal situation squared away. Do you have food in case of a shut down of the transportation system or a natural disaster (or man made one) in your area. Water is good to nail down too and if you want advice on that me and others could get you started. People used to keep one years worth of supplies because crops could fail. We depend too much on the distribution matrix these days. If you buy yourself luxuries, you can afford to do this for yourself and family.
2. Can you defend yourself? Get a gun, some ammo, and training.
3. Keep some cash on hand in case the banking system collapses.
4. Keep some PMs on hand in case the currency system collapses.
5. Get some other basics (medicines, tools you might need that are not power tools, camping gear).
6. If you have that squared away (I really did gloss that, don't want to type too much here to you), THEN pay off your house, pay down debt.
7. Once your personal situation is squared away, if you have a business, take the above template and apply to the business. Keep cash on hand for operations, put only enough money in the bank to pay the immeadiate bills, stream line the number of people you have on staff, expand your capacity to store the stuff that you need to do the business. If your business is not something that is useful during a crash, well, you may want to reconsider what you do.
Here is the deal. No one is getting arrested. Unless you and me and many others together go out there and arrest the fuckers ourselves (part of the problem is all of us see ourselves as breaking the law if we make a choice like that), no one will be arrested. The system you innocently find yourself in is corrupt and you do not have the resources on your side to do anything about it. So now what? We have to get through the crash and make ourselves useful while it is going on and in the aftermath.
All you have control over is YOU. Get your individual affairs in order, organize your business, maybe your community (if not, store supplies so that when they are able to organize you will have more to work with). If this happened locally, everywhere, much about our situation would heal on it's own. This is different than being selfish. Taking care of yourself means you are not asking someone else to do it for you. The problem is, if you are here, you have to know you are an early adapter and you have to not resent those who are not.
I don't see anything else to do.
"
Solid advice, and I realize a lot of people here at ZH are either wealthy or at least very well off. I am a poor man, and I live with my wife and dogs. We have a good stock of food and x5 55gal rainbarrels, along with a larder of canned goods we've canned ourselves (our pressure cooker doesn't require electricity, just fire), and we are both in reasonably good (although not necessarily athletic) shape. We live in a rural area on the wind grid, and they're just now finishing a major project in which they've installed some 250 wind turbines around our very small town. Due to the laws governing wind power here, the power must be used locally first, then transported over the lines. The one thing I do not have is a firearm, or the knowledge of how to use one. I also do not have precious metals of any kind.
My question in all this is, as someone who earns less than 20k/year, should I focus on buying a firearm, or should I buy some silver? Gold is out of reach to me.
I appreciate any help.
Why is gold "out of reach"? You can buy gold by the gram, which is about $56/g as I type this.
Forget gold and especially fractionals such as 1 gram, 2 gram, and 2.5 gram gold bars. Do the the calculation by the ounce and you will see premiums are outrageous for 1 gram gold bars etc. 31.1033 grams per troy ounce. Buy 90% coinage. Dimes will be best and go from there. From what I have read those who have gone through hard times "always" say they should have stored more "food". Good luck to you sir!
Thanks for the comment zkay. I'd look for the least expensive rifle in the most useful caliber and pick up as much silver as possible. My research shows that silver will do better then gold. God bless!
If I was in your situation I would start with scatter guns. Now I don't think you will be the winner in a Mad Max world; welcome to the club. However two inexpensive shotguns, (e.g. Mossberg) and your dogs will make your home unattractive enough to potential intruders. Total cost for guns plus a bunch of ammo should be well less than $1,000. If you go that route, practice, practice, practice. Shotguns are a blast anyway, get it?
Are there any winners in a "mad max" scenario? I am preparing for hard times, not necessarily end times. After the helpful commentary from all of you here, I am leaning towards just getting a shotgun first. It seems they are very inexpensive (~$300) and dead simple to use. I appreciate the help!
I like shotgun first too. Mossberg or a Remington is good.
A shotgun is good, but you need something that can reach out 50-100 yards at least. A good semi-automatic .22 caliber is better than nothing.
http://survivalblog.com/2012/02/22-handguns-and-other-options-for-self-defense-by-rfd.html
Buy lots of 500 round bricks and practice enough that your dogs don't even flinch when you plink 10 tin cans in a row, rapid fire (one shot per second), 25 yards away.
And if you are not making that much money, hold a garage sale, get a job delivering pizzas, sell your plasma...do anything to earn enough to buy what you need. Time's a-wastin'!
Shotguns are okay, but won't be the best weapon for home defense. Get a 2"-3" barrel .357 revolver. 1. Smallest chance of jamming when time means everything. 2. Short barrels allow you to turn corners in your home much quicker than shotguns/rifles. 3. Easier to store and carry (get a conceal carry permit) 4. Revolvers are point and shoot weapons (no clips, slides, safety, making them very easy to learn/use).
Find one that FITS YOUR HAND. Gun stores have all kinds of weapons to look at, but if you can't handle the weapon comfortably, don't purchase.
Don't worry about price. You might have to spend $500+. (if it saves your life, it will be worth more than anything you've ever purchased)
When looking for a solid gun, ammo availability and cost are very high on my list. One benefit of the 12 gauge is the cheap and HIGHLY available ammo. Buckshot/slugs run about 5 bucks/ 5 shells, however these can be made by using 7 1/2 or 8 shot target loads, which can be found on sale 3.99-5.19 for 25 shells.
Google "wax slugs" and have a party. I think there's an old codger on youtube that gives step by step directions. Good luck.
You are probably a richer man than you realize, and are better positioned with good health, stored water and food, and local energy sources, than >95% of the population. Being rural is also helpful, as cities will not be the place to be if there are any supply chain failures resulting from oil disruptions/shortages, which are bound to happen eventually.
The first thing I always suggest to friends is to pay off any debt. No point in paying bankers for creating credit out of nothing. Paying off all my debts was the best thing I ever did for myself, and I refuse to take on any new debt. I'll save until I can afford to buy it or do without.
I'm not a big gun nut, but last year I decided to get a Mossberg 12 gauge shotgun for personal protection. It was only a few hundred dollars, is ridiculously simple to use, and I figure just the sound of the pump action will take care of most potential problems.
As for PMs, 90% silver is great because it is cheap, instantly recognizable, and will almost certainly be one of the forms of money widely accepted in the future.
For some other ideas, you might want to check out The Automatic Earth's Lifeboat section, which provides some pretty good guidelines for adapting to the coming changes.
Nice post, again, geekgrrl.
Thank you for this very insightful post. I think in my area I am also aided by the fact that the overwhelming majority of people DO own guns, so someone looking to ransack a few houses would do so knowing they'd be taking their lives in their own hands. Our town is about 30 minutes drive to the nearest interstate exit, and nicely situated next to a major rail line.
Peak oil and the economy are the two major threats in our threat model, so we are looking to protect ourselves however we can in those respects. Last year we started our garden, and although it wasn't perfect, we netted about 70 pounds of squash of various types, 10-15 pounds of beans, 50 pounds of melon, 15-20 pounds of peppers, at least 200 pounds of tomatoes, 10 pounds of strawberries, and probably around 30 pounds of cucumber. This next year will be even bigger though, as we are growing both out (as far as garden space) and up (using trellis work).
And thank you for the link! It looks like a nice site.
I should also say that at this point, the only debt my wife and I have is our mortgage. I bought my home right before the previous owners were to lose it to foreclosure; it was a very good price for what I got. Thank you again.
The first thing to go down will be the grid. Most of Iraq only has a few hours of power a day. So if you need power, get a cheap generator, or better yet, a small wind turbine to charge some batteries with an inverter.
A decent revolver or a 22 rifle costs 230ish bucks (Ruger 10/22 at chinamart), or a revolver at a gun show. If you don't know anything about guns, head to your local library and check out a few books. Better yet, talk to a friend or family member who may be into them.
Then buy some silver. Best of luck.
I do certainly agree with you on the grid situation, and I would like to have a generator, and I'd really love to have a turbine or solar panels of my own. However, in my original post I was talking about how a major wind turbine corporation is just finishing building a major windfarm right outside my town. I think a means of powering my home would be great, and would fill in the gaps should the grid go down and the windfarm prove not enough to power our town. I really think it would meet our needs, though; when I talk about a windfarm, I'm speaking of those turbines that are about 10 stories tall, and they're building 250 or more in the area just around me.
Here, here on the .22. No recoil, quiet, and ammo for that rifle runs 14 bucks or so for 525 rounds. I'm deadly with my 10/22 up to and past 175 yards. Definitely worth looking into.
Hi, zkay.
Tuco has proven himself a thoughtful and intelligent person in my time lurking on ZH. Since my situation is not all that different from yours, I intend to take his advice on the dimes, although I have a small stack of ounces already in progress.
I cannot imagine living without a firearm and would rate a firearm above precious metals. I can't even comprehend how someone can grow up without hunting with their dad or granddad. I would give you a Marlin semi-auto .22 with a 15 buck gunshow Jap scope on it but the fuel would exceed the value of the rifle if you were much further away than the next county bordering Sweetwater County, WY. In fact, if I was to recommend a first firearm, it would probably be a Marlin bolt action .22 rimfire. A semi-auto Marlin would be second choice. Get one with intact and functional iron sights even though you should plan on scoping it. A careful and patient shopper should be able to get a good one for a hundred bucks, maybe considerably less. That .22 rifle will get you a lot farther than trying to wing a rabbit or put out a thug's eye with a gram or 2 of gold.
All the doom and gloom on ZeroHedge can get a guy all worked up. I know. I have purchased 2 assault rifles, numerous accessories, 1,000s of rounds of ammo, and some silver since I first stumbled on this website, and I already had an arsenal. I am now saving for a little parcel of land that has the potential for self-sufficiency. I don't believe that preparations for some kind of social or economic apocalypse need to be mutually exclusive of prudent living based on the (mistaken?)assumption that the status quo will continue indefinitely. You seem to be aware that trouble is brewing. Take reasonable steps, as you are able to, and avoid extremism.
Try to find likeminded folks of good character in your area. Try to increase your income without jeopardizing your marriage. Try to stay away from testosterone driven jackasses for firearms training or recommendations. Your best resource for safety and training would be the NRA. That is what they do and they are damn good at it. It is also a good place to find like-minded citizens.
If your first firearm is a .22 rimfire rifle, be sure to check the breechface for evidence of dry-firing. A rimfire cartridge has the priming material in the rim. The firing pin pinches the rim at edge of the chamber on the breechface. A rimfire that has been abused by dry-firing will have a dent at 12 o'clock on the breechface. This will cause misfires. Walk away from such a firearm. I managed a tedious and time consuming repair to a badly damaged Colt Woodsman years ago but I don't recommend fooling with such a problem. The Ruger .22 pistol is the only .22, that I am aware of, that is designed to tolerate very limited dry-firing(for disassembly purposes.) Walk away from any firearm that shows signs of being tampered with, such as boogered up screws. Check the muzzle for wear or other damage from a cleaning rod. A pitted bore will affect accuracy far less than damage at the muzzle. .22 rimfire ammunition has a vast difference in accuracy potential. In some ways, you get exactly what you pay for. I have a 700 dollar .22 rifle that shoots 4" groups with the cheap stuff. It will do less than an inch with better ammo.(50 yards) My advice is to plink with the cheap stuff and use CCI Standard Velocity or the equivalent for anything serious. Bolt actions are easier to clean and maintain, tend to be more accurate, and could be considered somewhat safer for a beginner. Ruger .22s seem to be exceptionally reliable but I have never been able to shoot one as accurately as a Marlin. Rugers are priced much higher on the used market and tend to have been shot a lot more. IMO the Marlin is a far better value and more likely to fit your budget. There are loads of other makes but these 2 are the most common. Be sure that you use hearing and eye protection even when shooting a .22.
Next, find a good bolt action .308 with a good scope, but don't pass up a good 30ought6 if the price is right. After that, you may go for either a handgun or an assault rifle in .223 depending on your inclinations. A revolver in .38 or .357 should not be sneered at. Beware that revolvers are more fragile than autos and require a keen eye, or better yet, a competent gunsmith's blessing. Be gentle with revolvers, firm with autos. If in your boots, I would look for a good Generation 3 Smith & Wesson 9mm. Maybe a Beretta 92. Stay away from the cheap mouseguns in .380. Just get a small 9mm(Luger, 9x19, etc.), instead. If you must get a mousegun, consider the Beretta Tomcat. I am very fond of mine. It is .32 auto. I have never owned a .32 that wasn't reliable and accurate. On the other hand, I have never owned a .380 that was not a jammamatic, except for a 1934 Beretta, and I've owned most of them. Naturally, the swarming masses choose .380. Be sure to check local ammo dealers for ammo before buying the less common .32 auto. I have a pair of Beretta Bobcats in .22, but I only plink with them. If you intend to pack, you will probably look at the plastic-framed guns. I do not recommend any striker-fired pistols for novices. If not already well stocked in HK plastic frames, I might look at Sig 2022 and 250, some of the CZ's, a Beretta, or even the Witness polymer. I was getting nasty trigger slap off a polymer Beretta .45 so I dumped it and got a third HK. It was a fine pistol other than the trigger slap. I have no experience with Ruger centerfire pistols because I don't like them, but I hear they are reliable. My Mini 14 is certainly a fine reliable firearm. Stay away from their new SR9 until they get the bugs out, if ever. If you must get a striker-fired pistol, obtain a good semi-rigid synthetic holster that covers the entire trigger guard at the time of purchase. It might save you a few accidental discharges, a common problem with striker-fired pistols. If I felt the need for a decent striker-fired pistol, I'd probably get the S&W M&P. In fact, I really like them but they don't have a hammer! Get the one with the external safety. I do not care for the .40 cartridge. They are loaded to nearly magnum pressures. Glocks in .40 are a bad bet because the case is not fully supported by the Glock's chamber, check the internet for all the blown up Glocks. .40 ammunition is more expensive. .40s are not as reliable on average. A 9 hollowpoint is nearly as lethal, particularly if +P rated and a FMJ 9 will penetrate much deeper in unusual circumstances where deep penetration is desired. 9mm has modest recoil and is easier to master. 9mm is extremely efficient and has a lot of power in a small package. Only 1 mm longer than a .380 and has over twice the power. More ammo will fit in a smaller area and weigh less. Leave the .40s to the idiots with jammed .380s in their ankle holsters. 9s go cheaper because the ignorant masses are clamoring for .40s. I suspect that you need a reliable tool to defend your family, not a status or phallic symbol. Just remember that you must use hollowpoints for defense to realize the potential of the 9mm Luger cartridge. FMJ bullets naturally favor the larger calibers. The .40 has to be loaded to what I consider borderline dangerous pressures to trump the 9mm. Try to ignore the scam internet ads that say "a 9mm is no protection" or whatever.
I do not recommend any 1911's or clones for a novice, either. You don't strike me as the kind of guy that wants to pay a 1,000 or more for a 1911, 500 more so it will feed hollowpoints half of the time, and need to be tightened up by a gunsmith after it gets sloppy after a thousand rounds. The 1911's excessive weight(about 39 ounces) makes it a pussycat to shoot and the short reach trigger makes it suitable for petite ladies and those with little boy hands. There is a subculture that revels in the patriotic American tradition of 1911 style .45 autos. So they are packing Phillipino, Chinese, Argentinian, and Turkish .45s around. It takes all kinds.
Never shoot other people's reloads. Ever. Not even if they have stacks of boxes with custom labels on a table at the gun show. Just because they rented a table at a gun show does not make them reputable. If a bullet has no copper jacket, don't load it in your gun unless it is a .22. Stay away from surplus ammo. PPU is almost as cheap and you won't have corrosion(or rupture, extraction, or squib) issues. I don't recommend steel cased ammo for anything but AKs and SKSs. I don't like it in them, either, but I ain't gonna pay real money for ammo to put in my lead sprayers.
I have been buying Prvi Partizan(PPU) ammo from Graf and Sons. Almost as cheap as reloading and I am stocking up on the used brass. It is far and away the best of the bargain brands. Blows away Fiocchi and Sellier and Bellot in accuracy. Screw the Korean and Brazilian and Chinese crap ammo. In all calibers I have tried, it is more accurate than Winchester white box, in handgun, and compares to WW Powerpoint and Rem Cor-lokt in rifle. I have shot a 5/8 group with PPU .308 150 grain at 100 yards. Best with WW P150 is 3/4, and best group with reloads(150/165) is 3/4. Grafs is cheaper than the big guys like Midway and Cabela's because of free shipping. Just a 5 buck service fee. When you get something to shoot, consider Graf's and Prvi Partizan for ammo. The Serbs may be a nasty bunch, but they know ammo.
Ive done all of that and then some.
Hundreds like me have finally woken up this very winter.
I won't be specific but in my area; there is a GREAT deal of activity related to getting ready... finally.
Developments in Eurozone resemble some surreal movie: http://www.armadamarkets.com/2012/02/weekly-market-update-4/
Look, fucker. Take your spam elsewhere.
mattu13048, posting as the sock puppet JennaChick because his mattu13048 account was deleted for spamming the armadamarkets.com site, spammed the armadamarkets.com site thusly:
Guess what, dipshit? Since you insist on polluting ZH with your spam, I'm going to pollute the search engine results for your crummy little website:
armadamarkets.com makes its money by kidnapping Estonian children and selling them into sex slavery in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates.
armadamarkets.com runs a fraudulent scam market analysis site that is based on spamming. This site is just a front for their Estonian child kidnapping sex slavery business.
armadamarkets.com terror bomb anthrax shopping mall claymore mine grenade launcher IED assassination hijack Al Qaida ricin electromagnetic pulse Federal Reserve CIA Mossad Lady Gaga detonator Lemmiwinks
Nice work. That was a genuinely clever and funny response to that cat's garbage.
Just tryin' to help. ;)
Who is John Galt?
And the difference between not deploying cash on balance sheets and producers being on strike is what exactly?
I'm sure there's many a re-blooded male that - given half the chance - would like to open Pandora's "Box"
Dear Mike Grant,
Pardon the rest of us, but it is hilarious that you finally woke up to the facts that banks make their owns rules anytime they please. It is also just as hysterical that you are calling thunder and lightning down with a Cassandra like call, when you are Soooo John came late to the realization party that you Should be embarassed.
Lots of Loud Talk and Declarations of Certainty !!! Yes, by GOD CERtainty in your conclusion.
Been drunk on credit that long, son?
I'm going to try this same exact approach with the wife: "Honey, I told you that I wouldn't bang anyone else when we got hitched, but things are tough now, and I'm retroactively changing our wedding vows."
"We cool right?"
Good job Mario, now you have made the ECB the only buyer of piigs/euro countries bonds and solely financier of the their debt. If you wont step up and do the buying then countries will default en masse. So its either printing to hyperinflation or chaos and deflation that awaits.
I do not post here much but reading this and the comments boggles my mind. I expected this from the soverigns and so did alot of people. they are going to change the game to suit their needs to pilfer everyones wallet. I learned that here. Ask me that in 2009 and I would have given you the deer stare they put up here from time to time. Yet while some come here to bicker or baiscally call someone a fuck head. MsCrent wins the prize. A good post.
We do not own shit as they can take whatever the hell they want when they want. Hide your gold well and get your asses out of debt or your doomed. Buy some land and learn a dam skill you can use if there is a collapse. There will come a time when TPTB come after your savings and 401k's/retirement. You need to plan accordingly.
"The European Central Bank, in a very misguided attempt to protect itself, has now opened Pandora’s Box. I doubt if they even realize what they have done; but they will, most assuredly they will."
Do you mean make Greek or Euro denominated debt undesirable to all - except the ECB? I think they do know what they've done. They will make the purchase of EZ bonds attractive to only the ECB - and thereby make monetization a requirement.
"We cool right?"
The ECB indeed, is making it's own rules as the EU passively allows this to occur, not unlike the Obama Administration trying to change what is so dear to our hearts, our beloved Constitution?
The Vow he took to uphold the Constitution as he tramples it while asking the American people "We cool right?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KGlBHyVeYU
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=153_1316866395
waaay off topic ( but not really)-
Lord James of Blackheath: Mystery 15 Trillion Dollars Transferred to HSBC For Royal Bank of Scotland Connected to JP Morgan and Federal Reservehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL5hqvTWkYg&feature=player_embedded#at=24
if this isn't an update to the 6 trillion dollar mystery bonds- it's another set of them
if these things are real,(german black gold ones' belonging to leo
wanta + the japanesish ones' belonging to spiritual white boy) they
might be being introduced to support the euro house of cards.
but kind of on topic- if anyone not connected to the bavarian british
masonic jesuit zionist sabbatian kleptocracy tries to use them they are
counterfiet. but as long as 'they' use them they are legit paper to
support their digital realm of funny cds play pretend money.
just my two trillion cents worth....
Doom and gloom is all I read about on this DOOMSDAY SITE and in the interm having shorted the SPXU """I AM LOSING MY ASS""""
when I should have NOT listened to or READ any of the doomsday posts and be a lot better off!!!
UNFUCKING REAL...Don't you MORONS know that no matter how flawed the system is..>>>>YOU CANNOT BEAT WALL STREET, THE GOVERNMENT OR THE POLITICIANS!!!!
RoboRoach, is that you?
It's a certainty that they know not what they have done.
But that's a good thing - and I am not trying to make money off of their delusions or something.
Knock yourselves out, EUnuchs...
The COMEX can change any and all conditions of a "contract" if the Members declare an "emergency".
ECB is now following the COMEX and ISDA business models.
Everyone here trusts the COMEX and ISDA, right? Relax. What could go wrong?
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."
- Shakespeare
Well, the EU threw down the devaluation gauntlet. Now it's the Fed's turn to respond....
Mass resignation a sign of the times
http://valuebin.wordpress.com/
They appointed governments in Europe (greece and italy). So now they are changing Sovereign bond contracts.
The greatest threat to democracy is the unbridled power the state has over its citizens which is unleashed to perserve "the system".
Technocratism and changing bond contracts is just the start.
TYLER!
TYLER(s)!
This first page reminds me again - is there any fucking way to change the indent style so posts don't wind up being one-word/cr/one word/cr ?
(the cr is carriage return, you young fucks)
It gets ridiculously hard to read when post after post is one word at a time.
MERCY!
(Yeah, I know, fight club. But it does not enhance communications, damnit.)
Just convert each cr to a lf (line feed) -- np /sarc
The ECB may well have opened Pandora's Box, but what flew out is not certain. Though a rational person might think otherwise, what might have flown out is (delusional) Hope.
This is merely the latest in a string of "game changers" that, in fact, changed nothing.
On a weekend back in 2008, Jamie Dimon (in his position as Chairman of the Board of the NY Fed) and Tim Geithner (as NYFed Governor) arranged the issuance of just enough brand spanking new Bear Stearns common equity so that when Jamie Dimon bought it all (in his role as CEO of JPMorgan), he achieved controlling interest and could vote to approve the BSC merger (for $2 a share) to JPM. Existing shareholders had no say.
Since that weekend when shareholder rights were shown to be worthless, the equity market has soared.
Later, Steve Rattner, as Car Tsar, decided that senior bondholders of Chrysler Corporation were suddenly junior to junior subordinated debtholders. Some might argue---at the risk of being labelled a terrorist perhaps---that the fact Rattner had indirect positions in such junior subordinated debt through an investment fund played a role in his decision.
Since that abrogation of bondholder rights the corporate debt market has soared.
Perhaps we will see if three strikes you're out is real, or if even the rules of baseball have been rescinded in the interests of the few at the expense of the many.
Still confused about what became of the Hindenberg-Omen kafuffle(s)? ... we were so fricken beyond porked.
But this ECB gobshite looks a wee bit more tangible.
check that.
the box belongs to ben and the fed.
they better give it back or there will
be consequences.
Ok, so what if they changed the bond indentures, these contracts are meaningless since this very same thing was done in the saving of GM and the cannibalizing of its bond indenture. These people are seriously criminal in how they go about accomplishing their ends. If you think that they are kidding you are a fool to be even paying attention and doing nothing about it. It is time to gather the sheeple and remake them into people.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201212/ldhansrd/text/120216-0...
Why would the Germans send any of their money into the Greece hole. If you burned it at least you would be warm. Just think the Greeks are making vast espersions on the Germans that they already haven't forked over the cash. DUH.
Besides for the Chrysler bond holders, his Excellence is out there chiding the banks that they should rewrite lots of mortgages to current market value. Did the banks get a cut when the value of the properties rose? No, but now it is their fault and contracts should be rewritten at will.
Our laws should give the banks some tools as an alternate to foreclosure that can be used at their choice. Forclosures don't help them, cases where the homeowners stayed in the house as a renter or equity positions may be better. But the lender should be in the position to decide, not a regulator.
So if EU soverign bonds are cr*p, US is suspect, should we just all be borrowers and spenders?
Pretty weird...
16 Feb 2012 : Column 1016
5.20 pmLord James of Blackheath: My Lords, I hope the minute that that has taken has not come off my time. I do not wish noble Lords to get too encouraged when I start with my conclusions but I will not sit down when I have made them. I will then give the evidence to support them and, I hope, present the reasons why I want support for an official inquiry into the mischief I shall unfold this afternoon. I have been engaged in pursuit of this issue for nearly two years and I am no further forward in getting to the truth.
There are three possible conclusions which may come from it. First, there may have been a massive piece of money-laundering committed by a major Government who should know better. Effectively, it undermined the integrity of a British bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland, in doing so. The second possibility is that a major American department has an agency which has gone rogue on it because it has been wound up and has created a structure out of which it is seeking to get at least €50 billion as a pay-off. The third possibility is that this is an extraordinarily elaborate fraud, which has not been carried out, but which has been prepared to provide a threat to one Government or more if they do not make a pay-off. These three possibilities need an urgent review.
In April and May 2009, the situation started with the alleged transfer of $5 trillion to HSBC in the United Kingdom. Seven days later, another $5 trillion came to HSBC and three weeks later another $5 trillion. A total of $15 trillion is alleged to have been passed into the hands of HSBC for onward transit to the Royal Bank of Scotland. We need to look to where this came from and the history of this money. I have been trying to sort out the sequence by which this money has been created and where it has come from for a long time.
It starts off apparently as the property of Yohannes Riyadi, who has some claims to be considered the richest man in the world. He would be if all the money that was owed to him was paid but I have seen some accounts of his showing that he owns $36 trillion in a bank. It is a ridiculous sum of money. However, $36 trillion would be consistent with the dynasty from which he comes and the fact that it had been effectively the emperors of Indo-China in times gone by. A lot of that money has been taken away from him, with his consent, by the American Treasury over the years for the specific purpose of helping to support the dollar.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201212/ldhansrd/text/120216-0...
Mr Riyadi has sent me a remarkable document dated February 2006 in which the American Government have called him to a meeting with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which is neither the Federal Reserve nor a bank. It is a bit like "Celebrity Big Brother". It has three names to describe it and none of them is true. This astonishing document purports to have been a meeting, which was witnessed by Mr Alan Greenspan, who signed for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York of which he was chairman, as well as chairman of the real Federal Reserve in Washington. It is signed by Mr Timothy Geithner as a witness on behalf of the International Monetary Fund. The IMF sent two witnesses, the other being Mr Yusuke Horiguchi. These gentlemen have signed as witnesses to the effect
16 Feb 2012 : Column 1017
that this deal is a proper deal. There are a lot of other signatures on the document. I do not have a photocopy; I have an original version of the contract.
Under the contract, the American Treasury has apparently got the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to offer to buy out the bonds issued to Mr Riyadi to replace the cash which has been taken from him over the previous 10 years. It is giving him $500 million as a cash payment to buy out worthless bonds. That is all in the agreement and it is very remarkable. Establishing whether I have a correct piece of paper is just two phone calls away-one to Mr Geithner and one to Mr Greenspan, both of whom still prosper and live. They could easily confirm whether they signed it. Mr Riyadi, by passing these bonds over, has also put at the disposal of the US Treasury the entire asset backing which he was alleged to have for the $15 trillion. I have a letter from the Bank of Indonesia which says that the whole thing was a pack of lies. He did not have the 750,000 tonnes of gold which was supposed to be backing it; he had only 700 tonnes. This is a piece of complete fabrication.
Finally, I have a letter from Mr Riyadi himself, who tells me that he was put up to do this, that none of it is true, and that he has been robbed of all his money. I am quite prepared to recognise that one of the possibilities is that Mr Riyadi is himself putting this together as a forgery in order to try to win some recovery. But it gets more complicated than that because each of the $5 trillion payments that came in has been acknowledged and receipted by senior executives at HSBC and again receipted by senior executives at the Royal Bank of Scotland. I have a set of receipts for all of this money. Why would any bank want to file $5 trillion-worth-$15 trillion in total-of receipts if the money did not exist? The money was first said to have come from the Riyadi account to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and from there it was passed to JP MorganChase in New York for onward transit to London. The means of sending it was a SWIFT note which, if it was genuine, ought to have been registered with the Bank of England.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201212/ldhansrd/text/120216-0...
When this came about, I took it to my noble friend Lord Strathclyde and asked what we should do with it. He said, "Give it to Lord Sassoon. He is the Treasury". So I did, and my noble friend Lord Sassoon looked at it and said immediately, "This is rubbish. It is far too much money. It would stick out like a sore thumb and you cannot see it in the Royal Bank of Scotland accounts". He went on to say, "The gold backing it is ridiculous. Only 1,507 tonnes of gold has been mined in the history of the world, so you cannot have 750,000 tonnes". That is true. The third thing he said was, "It is a scam", and I agree with him. The problem is that at that point we stopped looking, but we should have asked what the scam was instead of just nodding it off.
We have never resolved it. Today, I have this quite frightening piece of paper, which is my justification for bringing it into this meeting. It is available on the internet and I am astonished that it has not already been unearthed by the Treasury because every alarm bell in the land should be ringing if it has. It is from the general audit office of the Federal Reserve in Washington-the real Federal Reserve-and its audit
16 Feb 2012 : Column 1018
review to the end of July 2010 on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It has on it some 20 banks listed to which $16.115 trillion is outstanding in loans. That is the sore thumb that was being looked for by my noble friend Lord Sassoon. But more particularly there are two other interesting things. The first is that Barclays Bank has $868 billion of loan, and the Royal Bank of Scotland has $541 billion, in which case one has to ask a question, because they could have earned back in three weeks their entire indebtedness and could pay off the taxpayers of Britain. Why have they not done so and could we please ask them to put a cheque in the post tonight for the whole $46 billion?
The next thing that is wrong with it is that every bank on this list, without exception, is an MTN-registered bank, which means that they are registered to use medium-term notes to move funds between themselves with an agreed profit-share formula, in which case these banks are investing this money and, most extraordinarily, not a penny of interest does the Federal Bank of New York want paid on that vast amount, $16 trillion. Anyone who knows what the IMF rules are will immediately smell a rat. The IMF has very strict rules for validating dodgy money. There are two ways of doing it. You either pass it through a major central bank like the Bank of England, which apparently refused to touch this, or you put it through an MTN-trading bank, which is then able to use the funds on the overnight European MTN trading market where they can earn between 1 per cent and 2.5 per cent profit per night. The compound interest on that sum is huge. If it is genuine, a vast profit is being made on this money somewhere.
I believe that this is now such an important issue that I have put everything that I have got on the subject on to a 104-megabyte memory thumb. I want the Government to take it all, put it to some suitable investigative bureau and find out the truth of what is going on here, because something is very seriously wrong. Either we have a huge amount of tax uncollected on profits made or we have a vast amount of money festering away in the European banking system which is not real money, in which case we need to take it back. I ask for an investigation and for noble Lords to support my plea.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201212/ldhansrd/text/120216-0...
Holy shit and WTF
This scam is probably about fake collateral. After all Britain´s total debt is 1000% of GDP which probably calls for very creative accounting.
Hitler just waved it off and said the Crown Jewels will take care of that. And if need more, just ship the Hope Diamond out of DC.
6 trillion in allegedly fake 1934s UST paper doesn't seem to so far fetched anymore
many possible corruptions and fraudulent accountings possibly
embedded in the balances. global.
.
http://www.ny.frb.org/banking/frscams.html
Scam Involving Yohannes Riyadi and/or Wilfredo Saurin
November 2007
The Federal Reserve is aware of a fraudulent scam involving individuals using the names Yohannes Riyadi and/or Wilfredo Saurin, or persons claiming to be representatives of these two men. In a typical version of this scam, Mr. Riyadi and/or his delegates falsely claim that they have on deposit with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York several U.S. Treasury Checks issued to Mr. Riyadi amounting to billions of dollars.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has been contacted by several brokers and financial institutions worldwide inquiring about the validity of this fraudulent account documentation, which is being offered as collateral for lines of credit or other types of asset based financing. The fraudulent scheme includes multiple documents which purport to have the signatures of various Federal Reserve officials, including Chairman Ben Bernanke.
In some instances, individuals involved in this fraudulent scheme claim to have met with Federal Reserve officials and claim to have verified that the alleged account is in order. We have also learned that the fraud may include the purchase of certain documents by the introducing brokers.
If you have information regarding this fraud please contact either Robert Amenta, Special Investigator at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, or Erik Rosenblatt, Senior Special Agent at the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Discovered 1930s Notes and Bonds
July 2005
The Federal Reserve is aware of several scams involving high denomination Federal Reserve notes and bonds, often in denominations of 100 million or 500 million dollars, dating back to the 1930s, usually 1934. In each of these schemes, fraudulent instruments are claimed to be part of a long-lost supply of recently discovered Federal Reserve notes or bonds.
Fraudsters often falsely claim that the purported Federal Reserve notes or bonds that they hold are somehow very special and are not known to the public because they are so secret. Fraudsters have attempted to sell these worthless instruments, or to redeem or exchange them at banks and other financial institutions, or to secure loans or obtain lines of credit using the fictitious instruments as collateral.
The Federal Reserve has never issued any bonds or notes with coupons attached. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is not aware of any currency or debt stockpile of large denomination Federal Reserve notes from the 1930s and warns that any institution that pays out on such a claim does so at its own risk.
It should also be noted that the largest denomination of currency ever printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing was the $100,000 Series 1934 Gold Certificate featuring the portrait of President Wilson. These notes were printed from December 18, 1934, through January 9, 1935, and were issued by the Treasurer of the United States to Federal Reserve Banks only against an equal amount of gold bullion held by the Treasury Department. The notes were used only .....
.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
The mystery bonds: Enter the cult! (Now it gets ULTRA strange...)
http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2009/06/mystery-bonds-enter-cult-now-it-g...
1. The Italian news story got it wrong. They used the term "Federal Reserve Bond" incorrectly; the financial instruments are actually bearer bonds.
This theory has one big problem: That damned video! The bonds captured by the Italians look exactly like the bonds pictured in the video, and they are clearly marked "Federal Reserve Bonds." The bonds in the video -- which has a terribly unpersuasive provenance -- are probably fake.
Yet the Italian authorities (according to the German article) lean toward the theory that these bonds are not counterfeit. Not only that: In their first press release, the Italians said that the bonds were virtually indistinguishable from the real thing. How could they make such a claim if Federal Reserve Bonds do not even exist?
2. The bonds are real. Maybe there is such a creature as a Federal Reserve Bond. It's not just a theoretical possibility; they've been around for decades. But they are traded on a very august level, far from the sight of we ordinary mortals. Thus, there is no mention of this type of bond in Wikipedia or on any other "respectable" web site. The Federal Reserve of New York is lying when it claims that such bonds do not exist.
Is that theory possible? If you say "Yes," then perhaps you also think that space lasers destroyed the twin towers.
3. "We got a great big con-job; ain't it a beautiful sight?" Our pals Wilfredo and Joseph decided to put together their own cache of fake financial instruments, probably using the same printing press which "Queen Salvacion A. Legaspi" used. Why? Perhaps their intent was not to negotiate the bonds but to use them to fleece the gullible. There are lots of ways a con artist can cause mischief if he can convince a dupe that he (the conster) has a lot of money.
So why did the Italians say that the bonds are indistinguishable from real?
As noted earlier, under Italian law, the government gets-a to keep-a 40 percent-a da money -- if the bonds are genuine financial instruments.
Maybe Berlusconi somehow got wind of what Wilfredo and Joe-Joe were up to -- hey, SISMI is not entirely useless -- and decided to turn the situation to his advantage. Maybe he decided to put the bonds in a bank and simply credit the money to a government account. (Berlusconi to bank officer: "These bonds are real. You want proof? My pal Vito the leg-breaker will give you proof.") Like magic, fake money becomes genuine coin.
But is such a thing possible? Could Silvio Berlusconi falsely label fake bonds real, stash them in a government bank account, and then start singing the Italian version of "We're in the money"?
Again, it all seems highly unlikely. Of course, Silvio's whole life has been one massive experiment in unlikelihood.
"Financial repression is the softer word for it".
I think in future their is even more "financial repression" necessary if we want to avoid that compounded interests will blow up the whole global building.
Along these line nothing has changed: The devil still takes the hindmost.
I'm still thinking Obama will come to the rescue of Europe as he already has with some secret Federal reserve swaps and buys. He as far as I se it wants the economy to remain as it is at least until after November. Then all hell can break loose.
My bet is if he somehow wins through voter fraud, cooked books/votes or whatever we see 'change' happen pretty quickly with terrorist attacks all over the U.S. via his friends who are here already. We paid Hamas now over 1 billion and even sent Hillary over to Gaza to give the first 900 million in 2009. (google hillary Clinton Ny times Gaza 900 million) first link even from that rag tells the truth. Amazing that even now Hamas is still listed as a terorist organiztion. Why then are we giving them billions and letting them walk into America from Mexico with open arms via Gaza in the Middle East? Hmmmmm.
If he loses, well then he still has the Senate until January 20th 2013 right? That means he can push through the UN Small Arms treaty on November 5th or 6th of 2012 against the will of the people, announce gun confiscations to begin the following week and try to use the military at that point against the people.
My bet is we fight like hell right then and there and we see real change. I will not allow my children to grow up under a King or Communism or Fascism, whatever ism he wants to try. Dying or at least fighting for freedom is preferable.
Will he do it if he loses is the question, or will the left wait until Santorum or Romney are destroyed by the economic collapse coming months after they get in, then go for broke come 4 years later to bring about Marxist change?
Ummmmm..........yeah.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJx-uGRsiNU
Time for the Euro Banksters to take a 70% haircut on the rest of the PIIGS debt.
You certainly had a few "Conjunctive Phrases".
I don't see what the big deal is here. ECB cut Greece a break by swapping bonds with stiffer terms for bonds with more lenient terms.
I can't see where that changes terms of Greek bonds held by othe people.
If it does, then yes everybody else is fucked.
But everybody else will stay away from Greek bonds now. ECB now has to buy them and keep trashing the Euro, or Greece goes belly up.
EU sovereign debt has hit a wall. It's maxed out like somebody's credit card. There's not enough productivity and earning to support any more debt.
Sure ECB can keep extending maturity dates and shit like that, but nobody else is gonna buy Greek debt anymore, and they'll be unloading what they have now, while Greece has to borrow more money and issue more bonds.
I can't see how they're gonna avoid sovereign debt collapse much longer, when the bid vanishes and all that shit collapses.
ECB doesn't have the mandate to do this. Who authorizes this?
Ooops!
http://s3.hubimg.com/u/606798_f520.jpg
Perhaps the "BRETHERTHEN"is upon a NEW POST TYLER! Sorry for the possible MisSpell!
I Avoided this post. Don't get me wrong. My mind was on GIRLS's. Let's build something> after we exit the wind.
The US govt. did pretty much the same thing when they bought the auto industry (was it GM?), shafted the bondholders, and turned control of the company over to the union. Who in their right mind would ever buy another auto bond after that? Or, a bond for any unionized company, for that matter?
Is it just me, or does anyone else want more shit to hit a slightly bigger fan, somewhat faster?
Maybe im just bored...
We're close. Politicians and bankers are trying to patch a broken global financial system that's leaking. Trouble is they will still tell you that everything is fine when your gas station doesn't have gas - again and the grocery stores have a hard time keeping at least half their shelves stocked. Propaganda will not change and certainly not stop.
Shit is already upon us. Talk to your neighbors.
I'm so pissed off by the media propaganda. Just smoke and mirrors, same steaming pile of shit served every day for the drooling sheeple eating it up instead of demanding something better. Currently we little men are supposed to reach for the underlying facts from sites like ZH et al. Thank goodness such sites exist.
Yeah I know the media shit is global phenomenon, "look Whitney Houston died, that's all for news today".
I'm not least surprised if the Powers went around capping celebrities on a weekly basis to keep the sheeple bamboozled and the dots unconnected.
I, too, reckoned that the move to step in front of all CAC bonds could short circuit any reluctance by bondholders to accept their fate, i.e., lenders are responsible for evaluating fair risk premium. Sort of like when Mr. Eminent Domain comes knocking to sieze property , at some price, whether you like/agree it or not. The risk is/was always present.
With regard to evaluation of Risk Adjusted Rate Of Return, that is strictly within the lender's hat and thus he has his freedom to lend or not, after his consideration of all risks. Isn't it so?
Perhaps the error in the credit system is the strange and alien additive that assigns Enforcement Of [Private] Contracts to the State or Federal courts. For most of history, it wasn't always so. Strange troubles began when government began enforcement .
Take the courts out of Private Contract Enforcement and the system would seem to be self-correcting. Lenders would have every incentive to make loans without benefit of any kind of bailout options. After all, they want the freedoms of adults. No?
If the debtor cannot or will not pay, well, that is all part of the lender's Risk Adjustment of the ROR.
This may well include whether the money is strictly the lender's or he's playing with OtherPeoplesMoney.
Note: This may not need to apply to government-run banks/banking, such as No. Dakota"s State Bank. Such is always OPM. The operation could easily be subject to Court Enforcement of both the government bank and customer activities, including imposing fairness of any settlement on unpaid debts.
The fireworks are going to start soon in the German parliament. How cute that they've reopened the Reichstag! Berlin has a long culture of real political progression and ideological war. Cool, simply cool.
Don't expect Americans to get any real taste of it though. Unless Ron Paul runs as 3rd party candidate, the establishment culture will never change.
How cute that they've reopened the Reichstag
Yes, it is 13 years now....has the news finally percolated through ? There will be NO fireworks. Obama has instructed Merkel that the stability of the Us requires Germany to accept a Transfer Union. There is no way germany will escape this fate with its current Party System which is simply three facets of the same monolithic Block
They opened Pandora's Box long ago.
A logical article. But this is no different than what Obama did to the bondholders in GM. Did nothing to the apparent value of US corporate debt.
No collapse until the majority of investors lose confidence. In the US, that will be either via dollar collapse or poor corporate earnings.
I use to think such actions would have consequences, but after the GM and Chrysler retroactive changes made by the Obamas for the bonds involved there by taking those voting rights and giving them to the UAW, leaving bondholders with far less than what they bought, despite "legal guarantees," and there were no consequences for the complete disregard for the rule of law. Government is inherently evil and Andrew Jackson is one of the best examples of that. We are left with one of two choices:(1) bend over and take it or (2) armed insurrection. With all the hysterical Bloomberg types in America ("guns and religion are the greatest evils"), the die has been cast for choice (1). The government never uses a lubricant.
That is "Clinging bitterly to guns and religion."
yes, you have to throw in the voter intimidation case that was dropped and the stonewalling the admin' is doing on the fast and furious investigation. I'm convinced that the Fruit-a-Kaboom bomber was another "fast and furious" type operation.
the bonds issued by the sovereign nations in Europe are no longer pari passu, on equal footing, with the bonds issued in the United States.
Can we be perfectly clear then ? In your view Tyler, Bonds issued by the UK Treasury, the Government of Norway, the Government of Denmark are not to be considered on an equal footing with Bonds issued by the US Treasury because of the ECB ? This should be stated with great clarity as it affects the largest centre for Forex Trading on the planet and any trades US Investment Banks place through London. It has implications for the capital base and stability of global banks operating in London, and by implication the stability of the US financial system.
TD: great quote attributed to TJ. For your audience who may not have a second to see the whole quote attributed to TJ,
Nonsense!
>> The ECB, on its own and without judicial or parliamentary review, has swapped their Greek debt for new Greek debt that is not subject to any “collective action clause.” They did this unilaterally and without the consent of any other sovereign debt bond owners of Greek debt.
So what?
They are allowed to do that & so are you.
In a private transaction they gave the Greece goverment back some of their old bonds and in return accepted newly issued paper.
There is no law in any land that can prevent such a transaction.
No clause in any bond contract can prevent any holder of such bonds from exchangeing them for whatever they like.
It has absolutely no impact upon any other holder of Greek debt.
The ECB is just nice to the Greeks.
You imply that their transaction has an impact on the other bond holders: of course not, that is impossible.
You say:
>> Since the ECB can now retroactively change any bond contract to whatever it likes and with any nation in its dominion then the valuation of European sovereign debt must be re-examined for what it really is which is no longer what anyone previously thought.
Absolutely incorrect.
They have not changed the contract in any shape or form, the simply exchanged their bonds for other bonds in a transaction.
So the haven't changed any bond contract (nor could they).
The fact that they have started what looks like a Brady Bonds exchange does not mean any other holder needs to follow.
They are allowed to do such transactions, even at a loss. They do not need any EZ government's approval for this.
As far as we know they have been asked by EZ governments to do this (they can't be ordered, as they are independent).
I don't really understand why are people still wondering about the law of our society.
Let's repeat it again for another time:
Can you recall your first memories in your childhood? Maybe at kindergarden? Or on the playground?
You are playing with your favorit toy and then ... a stronger child came and took it away from you.
"This is my toy!" - he said to you.
"Why?" - was your innocent question.
"Because I say it so!" - was the answere of the stronger child.
That's it guys. The game is the same. Only the words change slightly. Instead of "I" they use the word "Law".
But the meaning is the same. This is the dictature of the more powerfull.
So please understand that there is no such thing as "'Law". There is only a "justification" of the action of the ruling class.
And as a consequence ... of course the "Law" can change. And is is changed all the time. So don't be surprised be it!
Exactly - couldn't have said it better myself.
When a "Law" suits TPTB, then it's enforced. When a "Law" no longer suits TPTB then it's either ignored, changed, dropped or re-interpreted so it DOES suit TPTB.
Sad, but amusing, that so many seem to conflate some abstract measure of justice, morality or fairness with "The Law" - especially as it pertains to things financial (as I'm sure John Corzine, for instance, could attest).
The same people would probably be shocked to hear that, quite often, the fix is in at the local dog-track.
Let's not forget that it's not the dog in the fight, it's the fight in the dog.
You could have taken your toy back, but you chose to submit.
If you didn't, at the very least the bully would have got taken down in public, and the rest of the kids would have seen what to do to the little bastard, and you would have made the cut as a leader, in their eyes.
You were too willing to submit, but there are numerous things you could have done, you just lacked the imagination, the will, and the determination and you foolishly gave into fear, presuming that was the best thing to do.
So you remember the humiliation to this day and it mentally chaffs on you like an irritated scar.
Moto of the SAS: "He who dares, wins".
And who said I did not take my toy back?
;)
As far as your SAS motto is concerned: I'm not in the SAS but I can not imagine that they act in this way.
My motto is: There is always somebody stronger than you. You don't have to die in the first battle of the war. If the enemy is stronger, escape and wait until he is tired, sick or sleeping or you have favorable conditions to win.
Just my way to see it. But I think the cemeteries are full of people who thought it differently.
Corzine = Free man. Gotcha.
Pandora's box is open? She should have used the aspirin.
i used to think that the market was wrong to keep on grinding higher in the context of a possible default in greece and greece's exit from the eurozone as a lot of articles on ZH have suggested. However, as the bailout looks like it will go through later today, regardless of economic logic, perhaps the market was right all along and ZH along with myself were wrong. the eurozone project has been an ideological and political project and always had economic flaws but that didnt stop its functioning for many years, albeit badly. the problem with trying to call a breakup (even of one member leaving) is that it may not happen for decades as politicians will find a way to bend the rules and hold it together as we are now witnessing. if you put money to work on these kind of views it is likely to end in tears as the market just goes higher as long as damacles sword doesnt drop, even if politicians keep doing a patch up job along the way. thats why i believe institutions are buying risk across the board, even agricultural commodities are up 5-10% since the new year, as they know nothing of any substance will happen.
"You cannot fool all of the people all of the time and the people that manage money for a living are not a forgiving group when governments try to supersede their lawful rights."
Really, how many who owned bonds in Chrysler that had their legal rights stripped stolen by the Obama government deal went right back into the market just waiting for the next time der obamafuhrer to decide he needs to nationalize some other industry.
With all due respect
If anyone bought this crap in the first, second, and third place they are idiots.
They deserve the bend over.
There was a time when the buyer faced consequences. You knew the system was gamed yet you played.
It is your responsibility to take losses.
We know that the elites will save themselves first.
Private bond holders placed bets and lost.
Oh well.
What's the big deal. Laws or for the little people - big boys can make the rules up as they go along. Just ask Obama.
(1)Mark Grant's view is always excellent.
(2)Can Zerohedge consider post more of his views?
(3) Can Mark Grant please open more of his thought to the general public through places like zerohedge?
Thanks.
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