SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: 2MAR$ who wrote (84850)12/20/2011 5:45:13 PM
From: Cogito Ergo Sum  Respond to of 218140
 
Canada ?? ROTF... Kim Jong-Il Looking At .
.


There might have been one where that was applicable..

my apologies to the ladies but i could not resist :O)



To: 2MAR$ who wrote (84850)12/20/2011 8:06:19 PM
From: Hawkmoon  Respond to of 218140
 
too bad he never saw Canada

And he never would have.. No train tracks between Siberia and Alaska and Kim Jong IL always took a train..

He was afraid to fly.. Even when he traveled to Bejing or Moscow, it was by train.

Hawk



To: 2MAR$ who wrote (84850)12/20/2011 11:43:38 PM
From: TobagoJack  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 218140
 
heads up

just in

From: M
Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2011 12:51 PM
Subject: Re: Comments - Week of Dec. 19


I hear you H - but my question is whether or not repo'd assets to the ECB reduce their Risk Weighted Assets on their balance sheet. I'm guessing that it does not? And if so, they need to shed 10 to 20 percent of their assets by refusing to roll their existing loans to meet Basel requirements. Since Sovereign Debt has a zero-risk weighting according to Basel, they can add tons more Govt. Debt to their balance sheet without violating Basel requirements - leverage that Govt. debt 6 or 8 or 10 times, and you end up with a massive ROE..... no?

M

From: H
Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2011 12:08 PM
Subject: Re: Comments - Week of Dec. 19


yes, and no.

yes, that's what we're seeing, and no, it doesn't mean a credit crunch for companies.

Study the ECB decision closely. It is a wicked, potentially highly inflationary move. The national central banks of the euro system will in fact take corporate credit claims on the banks books as collateral - this measure is specificaly designed to keep credit to corporations available in spite of the funding crunch. The amount of eligible collateral could be close to € 2 to € 3 trillion from this source alone, maybe even more, depending on how generous the assessment of credit quality is.

Of course in the final analysis, they are trying to cure a solvency problem with the help of inflation - an extremely dangerous game, with predictable long term negative consequences. It is the equivalent of digging an even bigger hole in the misguided belief that buying time in this manner is going to lead to a good outcome. As I've been saying all along: the ECB will never be able to take back its 'temporary' liquidity provisions. As soon as it tried to run them down in the course of 2010/11, the crisis returned in full force.

This is the nature of the current system: it either continues to expand money claims or it implodes. Of course it can not continue forever - and all interventions in history have eventually failed to stop the corrective forces of the market from claiming the scalps that were their due.

Short term gain will bring long term pain.

On Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 4:55 AM, M wrote:
I note that 2-Year Italian paper is now trading at 5%.
If I was an Italian bank, I think I'd be borrowing from the ECB at 1%, buying 2-Year Italian paper and basically refusing to roll loans on any that come due. I'm making a fortune on the steepness of Governments while massively improving my Basel ratios as I switch from company loans to "risk-free Government paper."

Apply this strategy to Greece, Portugal, Spain, etc.

Is that what we are seeing? And if so, does that portend an even greater credit crunch for companies going forward?

M





To: 2MAR$ who wrote (84850)12/21/2011 6:39:32 PM
From: TobagoJack1 Recommendation  Respond to of 218140
 
public service in-tray

acting man update:

The ECB's LTRO - A Giant Inflationary Push
Even the most egregious estimates of the size of today's ECB refinancing operation turned out to be too low - all in all the banks borrowed nearly € 500 billion.

We take another look at the pros and cons of the 'carry trade' argument, i.e. the idea that banks will use the ECB's 'free money' to buy more sovereign bonds. The issue is still widely debated and opinions differ greatly. One thing is however clear: there will now be nearly € 200 billion in additional money floating about (the net after deducting funding that is rolling over). Moreover, it is also clear that governments across the euro area have begun to employ all sorts of tricks to help their banks escape the funding squeeze, with Italy's government proving especially inventive. Even the government's own buildings are now ending up as collateral on the ECB's balance sheet.

It is difficult to imagine that there is no quid pro quo involved and as a result we would expect the current pause in the crisis to continue for a little while. Ranking high up on our list among the likely next triggers for its resumption are the possible future downgrades of France and of the EFSF.
acting-man.com