LIBOR

... the interbanking scam!

DIY car maintenance to help you save money

I remember the lines of bankers I had to deal with in the past which would criticise my business plan as to not being profitable enough; 25% or 30% margins were expected otherwise, why bother?! After this we all understand the motivations:

While some try to save money going DIY others use DIY in a much more profound way; it is criminal, but who cares in a world where all those foxes put themselves in charge of all those hen houses; they set their margins themselves; monopoly at its best; this cartel doesn't even need breakfast.
This breakfast refers to a so-called breakfast-cartel of the German light bulb industry where the main producers met one morning in April 1899 and agreed to raise prices by 10% - during that breakfast they agreed on who would say what, go first, follow up, etc. Of course, this was and is declared illegal, but how good are declarations when mainstream has those for lunch?

In above video Mr Booth, representing the Institute of Economic Affairs, is masterfully trying to not answer any question in detail which seems to be the goal of this IEA, while this perky Mr Reid speaks for the one and only ICFR, International Centre for Financial Regulation, the "... only independent, non-partisan organisation to be exclusively focused on best practice in all aspects of financial regulation internationally." as you can read here.

But then you should see the list of those independent Founder Members here. If you see UBS, Barclays, Her Majesty's Government or Morgan Stanley, etc. on that list you are not nuts! Calm down, you are just watching the scam having breakfast! Simon Johnson: The Market Has Spoken...

This does not leave me and my business plans with any hope. Banksters! I recommend you reading the interview with James K. Galbraith, March 2009, three years ago!!!

…as long as the old management is in place, there are no incentives to cooperate in the evaluation you need to make.

There was clearly a systematic failure. But that does not mean there was no criminal energy around.

When a bank is insolvent, the incentives for normal banking practice disappear. They become perverse.

WHEN  will we finally see things change? What a stupid question!


Carpe diem!

euro's song of swan

EURO is history!

Its failure was programmed when this artificial currency was forced over so different economies such as the German and the Portuguese or the French and the Italian; during the last weeks there was not even the slightest hint that any or a certain group of the member states, the ECB or the EU is working on a plan to safe the currency by installing measurements that would allow economies of different levels and needs (!) gather under the same currency roof.

Not that I know all the answers and it very likely is long past 12 o’clock but it is obvious that there are no solutions to heal the programme’s failures.

To collect vast sums of money for filling a Greek hat (how often?) will see a number of other hats pop up, some larger, some smaller; the economies slipping almost on a global scale emphasising the battles for labour and commodities, also for weak currencies and low labour cost, this all inflamed by the banksters' egoism will all but protect the EURO.

So the question is: "What’s next?". Not so much a “how does this end?” but rather a “what will we be left with?” and “how will we go on?”.

Anyway, it might take a little or much longer; but an awful end might shorten an awful time!

Carpe diem!

what took you so long, oh lord?

telegraph: Lord Mandelson backs state investment bank plan

The Business Secretary believes that a state-run bank could create funding streams for sectors that traditional banks might otherwise ignore.

It took the politicians far more than 12 months to finally understand that the collapse and then absence of "traditional banking" in connection with the banksters' egoism is drying out the economy; now of all things the German kfw has been detected as the possible bank-business-model that could help supplying the markets with credit. That's a joke?! Just remember the IKB disaster!

1
By the way, the proposed €5bn that Germany has to throw into Greek's hat to collect the €25bn will be printed by the same kfw. What a career from the Marshall Plan to the "global economic crunch super print shop"?

2
kfw = "Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau" meaning something like the "bank institute for reconstruction".

3
Why seek far afield and go through all the expense to "learn" from kfW? We own the RBS where "RBS" could well stand for "Re-Build-from-Scratch"!


Carpe diem!

beware the expert: Dominique Strauss-Kahn

photo

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: IMF Chief Cautions Against Early Stimulus Exit

You read a lot of rubbish these days; and if it is not rubbish it is needless and superfluous platitudes you hear from the ones that are to run the show.

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn noted that private sector demand is "still very weak" in most nations, while jobless rates could rise in the U.S., Europe and Japan in the months ahead.

Although Strauss-Kahn didn't clearly answer the question of what he thinks of concern over monetary tightening by China, he said: "Certainly, we need rapid growth in China."

Private-sector demand and employment conditions, which could be the "best" indicators to determine the timing of withdrawal, are weak in many economies, he said. Private demand remains dependent on government expenditure and is "not on a sustainable path" in most countries, he said.

"There's a risk of...unemployment rising in coming months" in the U.S. and Europe from their current rates of 10%, and in Japan from around 5%, he said.

The IMF's website notes ambitious aims:

About the IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an organization of 186 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.

Ambitious! But obviously in shambles... still, for my part I would like to read about possible solutions and answers, not about what is the obvious.

"Mr. Strauss-Kahn, how do want to achieve a "... rapid growth..." in China and at the same time create new jobs and boost private sector demand in such minor and weak areas like the "U.S., Europe and Japan"?

Thank you for your early answer.

Carpe diem!

... that's where I long to be...

Take a break...



Carpe diem!

Golden Sachsens everywhere!

Matt Taibbi, American journalist, on the "Great American Bubble Machine".

I am aware of the fact that is is a lot to read and listen to, to digest and understand: at the same time it is very likely that the big players are aware of just that fact as well and therefore get away with what the get away with.



and part two:


Please also see:
Do you believe in miracles?
Max Keiser, part 1
Max Keiser, part 2

Carpe diem!

China and its weak currency!

China's geopolitical influence

The Renminbi as the shadow currency of the US $ is just as weak while at the same time China is extending its geopolitical influence by securing resources, energy and markets.

Carpe diem!

Ought to Know Max Keiser, part 1

Refreshing to listen, hear and digest...



Wait till you hear him in part 2...

Carpe diem!

Ought to Know Max Keiser, part 2

He must be very independant...



Carpe diem!

Do you believe in Miracles?

Telegraph story and BBC's Robert peston on the same subject

$3.44bn in 90 days!

What a remarkable resurrection? $3.44bn in just three months, only some months after they had to be bailed out by the tax payer. But then they had not only received cash but grandiose monetary instruments that allowed them to re-valuate rubbish and garbage.


Not only are they making serious profits; they have also repaid the $10bn of tax payers' money already: good boys!


Incidentally the same good boys, Goldman managers, sold $691m of their own shares between 09/2008 and 04/2009 - into a falling market. Compare this to $435 being sold by the same mangers between 09/2007 and 04/2008, when shares were almost three times higher... which makes it a +300% increase in volume; so does that mean they do not believe in the generous offer of balance sheet cosmetics, ultra low interest rates and cash floods being sustainable and sufficient to make holding on to Goldman shares worthwhile?

I believe they are right!

Carpe diem!

Bad…? How bad?

Production and wholesale prices: some food for thought.

It does not make sense to compare the Great Depression with what is happening today; there are just too many antipodal differences that are misleading anyone who thinks he can take shortcuts in order to understand and/or – forbid – to explain coherences.

The (IMF) graphs below open the horizon for getting used to big numbers: industrial production down >40% in the US, wholesale prices down 30 to 45% over a span of three to six years. If anything, today’s global setup will play with the time scales of the down and up but then it will also influence the spread/spans.

Oil price has come down from >$150 per barrel to now around <$50; that is 70% off a price level caused by the casino-hype fuelled from speculation multiplied by an abundance of monetary liquidity divided by greed. As much as the finance was available to fill this balloon, as such both have now vanished. We are now in for deflation, lots of that; then we will be in for inflation; even more of that, as it will be the only way out to compensate the numerical values plus interest of the debts printed during the fall; then we will be in for new money: why not take a shortcut?

There are solutions!

Carpe diem!

click the graph to enlarge