The BillyB, Aster & JR8 roundtable!

[JR8]

JPMorgan CIO explains the EU boondoggle

Concise and to the point.

Anyone mad enough to be pro fiscal union, would be mad not to read it!

[JR8]

Local election poster.

Translation:
'We do not want to be the paymasters of Europe!
Leave the euro now'.

[aster]

The shylocks will do anything to destroy the Euro and start milking Europe again on every single transaction, and of course to do so they need to convince the sheep to be on their side. Same thing happened in the UK... guess who financed all the "Save the Pound" campaigns?

[JR8]

The shylocks will do anything to destroy the Euro and start milking Europe again on every single transaction, and of course to do so they need to convince the sheep to be on their side. Same thing happened in the UK... guess who financed all the "Save the Pound" campaigns?

France and Germany [i.e. the self-appointed '''leaders''' of the EU] are this week pushing for a financial transaction tax. Could it just be that the politicians are as bad as you suggest the bankers are?


Osbourne has told them, 'you introduce it in the euro-zone if you wish to, but we're not participating', to much squealing about level playing fields and all moving ahead together - rather shot their fox, as the whole point is the Franco-German axis trying to nobble the City of London.


Edit to add:
Just realised I still had the article open, here's the relevant part...
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In a further sign of dischord, Treasury sources said Britain would not be part of a European financial transactions tax being proposed by France and Germany. An official said: "If the euro area would like to have a banks levy, that's a matter for them."

However, EU sources said there could be no question of putting eurozone financial centres at a disadvantage with the City. "It has to be an EU27 tax," said one. European diplomats predicted that while Britain has a veto over any EU tax proposals, Mr Osborne will be put in a difficult position. "France, Germany and the commission have identified this as a key response to the crisis," said one.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/fina ... sq-content
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'...there could be no question of putting eurozone financial centres at a disadvantage with the City' - Alice through the looking glass?

Reminds me of how Walmart were hounded out of Germany for being uncompetitive (er, thats as in too competitive).

[JR8]

In front of my corner shop this pm, on a clothes recycling bin.


Top sticker says 'Criminal foreigners out!'
[Does this include me hehe...]


This one reads 'Have a good flight home'.


What is it with these Germans, they don't seem to be following the europhile 'we're all in this together' mantra.

[JR8]

Yields on 2 year Greeks, 47%.

[aster]

France and Germany [i.e. the self-appointed '''leaders''' of the EU] are this week pushing for a financial transaction tax. Could it just be that the politicians are as bad as you suggest the bankers are?


Osbourne has told them, 'you introduce it in the euro-zone if you wish to, but we're not participating', to much squealing about level playing fields and all moving ahead together - rather shot their fox, as the whole point is the Franco-German axis trying to nobble the City of London.

Sounds like the UK simply being scared of the thievery that previously pulverised the UK financial system and robbed the country of billions of Pounds.

Germany and France are 100% right in this case, so it's a bit sad to see the likes of England tip-toe their way out of trouble and accept the continued rape of the country when it comes to monetary matters...

[aster]

In front of my corner shop this pm, on a clothes recycling bin.

Please accept my condolences on being stuck in Germany. Whereas definitely better than commuting suicide, it must be a severe downgrade from the likes of magical Singapore. Once again, my sincere condolences for having to live in such a place...

[BillyB]

Yields on 2 year Greeks, 47%.

Hot potato......

[JR8]

Or pass-the-parcel. With the ECB holding them when the music stops...

p.s. Aster given how much you detest bank charges, why would you support something that increased their baseline costs? It sounds like a bit more banker-bashing to me, but if you think the cost would end up in the bank rather than with the customer I think you're probably mistaken.

[JR8]

Please accept my condolences on being stuck in Germany. Whereas definitely better than commuting suicide, it must be a severe downgrade from the likes of magical Singapore. Once again, my sincere condolences for having to live in such a place...

I 'commute' from the bedroom to the room next door. It's hell you know.

A downgrade? Oh on the contrary, our place is 200m of granite and oak floored luxury, like something out of Wallpaper magazine. I have never lived anywhere like it before. And the best bit? You're paying for it and I'm not.


Bwahahaha....

[JR8]

Philipp Roesler, Germany’s economy minister, said an “orderly default”

[aster]

Sounds cold and boring, plus nice places on the inside can be found in every country on this planet - step outside though and you ain't walking down the Singapore River for a pint at Boat Quay... wearing shorts and a t-shirt.

Greece will go bust, no doubt about it. They simply have no economy to pick up, it's like trying to kick-start a heart that is no longer capable of pumping blood.

I think the big question JR8, that you and I should be asking ourselves, is how we can make money off this latest "Swiss-defence" stance. If you held funds in EUR right now, wouldn't it make perfect sense to convert the entire lot into CHF? I mean you can't go wrong really, right? I don't suppose the Euro will rise to 1.25 or 1.3, all the pressure is pointing in the other direction. If the Euro goes up after you sell it, you can expect the Swiss Franc to follow accordingly at 1.20. But if the Euro crashes, will the Franc go down with it? Such a scenario will already trigger a global panic, which will see money pouring into the Franc anyway, and with the currency going down to match the Euro it will be deemed as a good time to buy for holders of other currencies, thus increasing the stream (or rather flood) of money trying to find a safe heaven in Switzerland.

[JR8]

Sounds cold and boring, plus nice places on the inside can be found in every country on this planet - step outside though and you ain't walking down the Singapore River for a pint at Boat Quay... wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I don't see how I could be paying for your being stuck there, unless you are employed by the Singapore gov't.

Check out Brainbox-Aster, he got it in one lol.

Being here for a while gives me a good perspective on the things I miss about SG. But I can tell you Boat Quay is not one of them!


Greece will go bust, no doubt about it. They simply have no economy to pick up, it's like trying to kick-start a heart that is no longer capable of pumping blood.

I agree. Watching the headless chickens (EU politicians) who have no Plan #B is interesting though.

I think the big question JR8, that you and I should be asking ourselves, is how we can make money off this latest "Swiss-defence" stance. If you held funds in EUR right now, wouldn't it make perfect sense to convert the entire lot into CHF? I mean you can't go wrong really, right? I don't suppose the Euro will rise to 1.25 or 1.3, all the pressure is pointing in the other direction. If the Euro goes up after you sell it, you can expect the Swiss Franc to follow accordingly at 1.20. But if the Euro crashes, will the Franc go down with it? Such a scenario will already trigger a global panic, which will see money pouring into the Franc anyway, and with the currency going down to match the Euro it will be deemed as a good time to buy for holders of other currencies, thus increasing the stream (or rather flood) of money trying to find a safe heaven in Switzerland.

I don't speculate like that, as I have seen too many clever people ruined doing so. I'm more into protect-mode than accumulate-mode now. That means safe and boring but out-flanking inflation. Aviva, RSA and Vodafone all rock solid, global and yielding over 8% right now... though I still think the market is going to get a sledge-hammer in the not too distant future so I'm hesitating. That, and the rest (allocation TBD) into a low-fee SE Asian Index tracker fund. Wrap it in an offshore nil-tax account and I'm done...

[JR8]

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'We all know that Greece behaved badly for a decade. The time for tough love was long ago, when the mistakes were made and all sides were seduced by the allure of EMU.

Even if the Papandreou government met every Troika demand at this point, it would not make any material difference. Greek citizens already understand this, and they understand that EU loan packages are merely being recycled to northern banks.

Instead of recognizing the collective EU failure at every stage of this debacle, the creditor powers are taking out their fury on what is now a victim.'
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/fina ... ction.html