Wednesday, December 19, 2012

ODDS & SODS

Another day at the office.  On both sides of the pond the news that dominated was that of the "Fiscal Cliff" and whether the drag-racing Leader and Speaker would engage the brakes fast enough to prevent what the majority seems to believe is an impending disaster.  Frankly, it seems to me that The Leader would much rather a compromise not materialize (he's never been interested in draws)  and that the Speaker just wants to get it over with at this point.  Fun to watch the stock market, however, move in hundred-point intervals depending on the mood of the moment.  Clever these guys.

Over there, the Brits caught a lecture from The Leader's boys about how bad it would be if they left the EU.  You can imagine their reaction beginning with, "Sod off," and getting a bit more pithy from there.  It would appear that we can expect the same sort of relationship building in the second term as in the first.

Berlusconi, bless him, mused out loud that Italy might be better off outside the Euro Zone which of course did no one any good muting the call only in so much as it referred to what might happen if Germany did not give up it's objection to the ECB acting as a lender of last resort to everything that walks or crawls in the Eurozone.  You can imagine the reaction beginning with, "Sodden off," and getting more pithy from there.  But it plays in Perugia and that is all Silvio cares about.  Oh, he also announced he's marrying his 12 years old...sorry, she's 26...girl friend just as soon as he can finalize his divorce.  When asked was his health an issue in regard to the age difference, he replied, "If she dies, she dies."  It was very colloquial...I may not have translated his response correctly.

S & P UPGRADED Greece from simple (?) to B-, that's 6 grades sports fans.   Whoopy damn dooo.  Yields fell, prices rose and a couple of hedgies made fortunes on the debt they were still holding.   They also upgraded the outlook to stable in the midst of a 24 hour strike and rioting in the streets with a couple of people dead.  Good job S & P.  Got any newly minted AAA CMOs hangin' about?
Not to be left in the dust, the ECB announced that Greek debt was now available for collateral once again.  Why not, they own most of it anyway.

Finally, something not to be missed is the new P.M. of Japan announcing to the head of the central bank that he now works for him.  You can imagine the reaction being, "Honto Yo,"---which is not quite "Sod off" in Japanese but depending on the inflection could certainly mean, "Are you #%&((^*@ me?"  New Honcho wants more liquidity in system and inflation up around 3%.  Don't laugh, this is an important development that will certainly have global ramifications depending on who wins.  If there is a clear loser, say Sayanora to that guy.  All about face you understand.  I think I may spend more time watching that part of the world next year.  Later.

No comments:

Post a Comment