In keeping with the theme of the week as so far London seems to be doing well, but once again, in these the dog days, I have little to say.
The Suit is over in Euroland meeting with Angie's guys and Sr. Draghi. They want to see him like a heart attack. Absolutely cannot stand him and the bloom seems to be off the rose of his boss as well. But it's a good idea that everyone appears to be involved because of the ministers' meeting on Thursday and at that event everyone had best have their acts together if the can is to be kicked further down the road again. After Sr. Draghi's promise of victory last week any sign that the entire mob doesn't have their shoulders to the wheel will certainly result in a market capitulation. Greece had best be on-side as well as talks regarding the re-do of its austerity plan have been extended.
Now, in the great scheme of things, what does this all mean? Unfortunately, very little as I continue to believe that that a serious realignment of Euroland is inevitable to include the loss of at least one member and probably more with the future of the Euro itself hanging by a thread. Why then The Suit getting involved in what certainly is a mug's game? Simple. There is no one at this stage who wants the can kicked further down the road...past November to be precise...than The Leader. A European collapse or the beginning occurance of the same, spells disaster for The Leader's reelection campaign. So Thursday is suddeningly looming far more important that one would have thought just a week or so ago. Far more important.
Over here, over the weekend and as predicted, an interesting conversation got underway in response to Sandy Weill's musing of last week about breaking up the big banks. What is really interesting is that for the most part the conversation is being driven not by the regulatory hawks but by the--let's call them the "deal guys"--who are solely concerned with the "unlocking of value" for the investor. Yeah, sure. These days, banking being--for better or for worse--a "mark to market business," if the marks are correct institutions such as Citigroup and Bank of America are selling a something less than one half of tangible book value and wouldn't it be great to bust these things up and deliver all that value to the investors? Might even be a fee or two in there as well. As of yet, I don't have a view but this isn't going to go away for a while so be aware. In the mean time I remain locked in near-mortal combat with Trouble and Strife for the tv remote. Olympics. At this stage she can spell and write the name of every Russian gymnast...in Cryllic.
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