Qu’est-ce que c’est Crash?

Great Moments in French Socialism…

…Then as France slips further into recession and as their non-performing loans increase and as their massive amount of securitizations rapidly decline in value; their banking system will come under extreme pressure. Much is hidden and cloaked in France but bills that must be paid will begin to take their toll and the uncounted liabilities do not disappear just because no one adds them up correctly. France, in my view, is a powder keg waiting for some fuse to be lit and it will not be a Belle Epoch Ball at Versailles when it does. There will be fireworks aplenty but no cheering crowd to accompany them.

Tick Tock…

Zero Hedge

When They Say “Youths” They Mean “Muslims”…

Riots in Stockholm suburb over police shooting

Gangs of youth Muslims angered by the police shooting death of an elderly man hurled rocks at police and set cars and buildings on fire in a Stockholm suburb early Monday, forcing the evacuation of an apartment block.

Around 50 youths Muslims were involved in the riots in the suburb of Husby, west of Stockholm, police spokesman Lars Bystrom said.

Husby is one of several neighborhoods of apartment blocks in western Stockholm occupied primarily by immigrants Muslims.

“I understand that people Mulsims react like this,” said Rami Al-Khamisi from the organization Megafonen, which represents citizens in Stockholm’s suburbs.

If you won’t identify the problem, you can’t solve it…

AP

The Pessimists are too Optimistic…

“Relations worse that pessimists expected”…

Officials in the Chancellery consider the culprit here to be neighboring France, the country that is meant to function together with Germany as the motor driving the EU as a whole. Paris, Meyer-Landrut said, isn’t interested in reaching agreements with Germany on fundamental questions before September. The meaning behind his words was clear: French President François Hollande is counting on the German elections putting a new government in place in Berlin, one he hopes will be more willing to compromise. Hollande no longer expects anything from the current German government.

The two nations’ disputes always seem to be about money…

or something like that…France and Germany have a long history of settling disputes…

Spiegel on-line

QE at Work… Britons turn to food banks

Paul Krugman is thrilled!

More hard-up Britons turn to food banks

The Trust has launched food banks at a rate of three a week in recent months, and now operates 345 branches across the UK. Part of the rise in referrals can be attributed to the network’s rapid growth, but while food bank branches have risen by 76 per cent in a year, referrals have increased by 170 per cent. “It’s a more much intense use,” Mr Mould added. “The fundamental thing is that more and more people are living an increasingly precarious life financially.”

During the Great Depression, the desperation was graphically evident with long lines of families waiting for soup; in the new depression, the record levels of starving and needy are hidden by a blanket of EBT cards and direct transfers from government. The situation is no less terrible – no matter how hidden from view.

But hey – the Stock Market is up!…

FT, Zero Hedge, NBC

When Merkel says “Europe” she means Germany…

Merkel To Europe: “Prepare To Cede Sovereignty”

“We seem to find common solutions when we are staring over the abyss,” Merkel said. “But as soon as the pressure eases, people say they want to go their own way.

“We need to be ready to accept that Europe has the last word in certain areas. Otherwise we won’t be able to continue to build Europe,” she added.

What could possibly go wrong…

Zero Hedge

EU – “Nothing they say is true…”

Cyprus bail-out vote

Green MP George Perdikis told the Cyprus Mail that he would vote against it to uphold the “freedom” of his country. “It is a crime to deliver Cyprus into the hands of the troika and allow it to become a colony.”

It is also a crime to steal people’s money…

Meanwhile the EU slips further into depression…

In a defiant statement, an alliance of the ECB, Commission and Eurogroup said the “evidence is clear” that EMU crisis policies have been a success and recovery is in sight.

Steen Jacobsen from Saxo Bank accused EMU leaders of dangerous complacency. “Nothing they say is true. Reality has never been further away. It’s scary,” he said. “We think the eurozone is in far worse shape than they realize. We will see contraction of 1pc this year but it could be as bad as 2pc.”

Citigroup cut its forecasts drastically, warning that EMU will shrink both this year and next, with a quasi-slump dragging on until 2017.

Socialism at work…

Telegraph

Wealth tax to pay for EU bail-outs

The Germans want rich Brits to pay for lazy Greeks and Spaniards

What could possibly go wrong…

Around 400,000 Britons live or own homes in the south of Spain, which is suffering a deep recession that is hampering Madrid’s attempts to balance the public finances and stave off a bail-out.

Southern eurozone governments have argued that it is right for Germany to pay more because it is wealthier and because its economy has gained so much from the single currency.

But German economists are now challenging that argument. They say that new figures taking into account property values show that people in many southern countries are actually wealthier than their German counterparts.

Telegraph

Fasten your seat belt in Europe

France: “the world’s last truly Communist country is about to implode”

Things are unfolding about as expected…

France has economic problems that are particular to its political culture. While speculative excesses in Spain and Ireland were concentrated in an over-built, over-geared real estate sector, French exuberance was a civil service affair. (Remember the adage: too many houses in Spain, too many factories in Germany, too many civil servants in France). This out-of-control public sector machine used easy funding conditions through the 2000s to bolster the ranks of an already bloated bureaucracy – the assumption was that such captive groups would vote for their ultimate pay -masters come election time…

Which they did…and elections, apparently, have consequences…

Zero Hedge

Cyprus Was a “Unique” Case…Could NEVEEEEER Here…

Because it was so small…the rest are bigger…

Global Deposit Confiscation Called For By Influential CEO Of Italy’s Largest Bank

The CEO of Unicredit Federico Ghizzoni said yesterday that it is “acceptable to confiscate savings to save banks.” He said that the savings which are not guaranteed by any protection or insurance could be used in the future to contribute to the rescue of banks who fail and that uninsured deposits could be used in future bank failures provided global policy makers agree on a common approach.

The.Banks.Must.Be.Saved…

Meanwhile, on the “it could NEVER happen here” front…

Canada’s “ Economic Action Plan”… pg 144…

The Government proposes to implement a bail in regime for

systemically important banks. This regime will be designed to ensure that,

in the unlikely event that a systemically important bank depletes its

capital, the bank can be recapitalized and returned to viability through the

very rapid conversion of certain bank liabilities into regulatory capital.

….The Government will consult stakeholders on how best to implement a bail – in regime in Canada

Systemically important banks will continue to be subject to existing risk

management requirements, including enhanced supervision and

recovery and resolution plans.

Right….

By “certain liabilites” they mean “your money” and by  “stakeholders” they mean” bankers”…

Zero Hedge

The EU Bank Run Update…

Today its Italy…

Italy’s Monte Paschi Admits To Billions In Deposit Outflows

In a somewhat wishy-washy, ‘hide-the-truth’-like statement on Monte dei Paschi’s website, the CEO admits to, “the withdrawal of several billion in deposits.” Of course, the reasons why these depositors withdrew their capital from the oldest bank in the world will never be known though of course he blames it on “reputational damage” from their derivative cheating scandal. Apparently the fact that this happened to come about six week after said scandal and the bank’s third bailout, and that the prior two bailouts did not result in such an outflow of unsecured liabilities (at least not to the public’s knowledge), was lost on the senior management, as was lost that a far greater catalyst may have been the slightly more troubling events in Cyprus in the second half of March.

Maybe France by May?….

Meanwhile…Eight steps to watch for….