Good morning. Happy Monday. Hope you had a nice weekend.
The Asian/Pacific markets closes mostly up. Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea each rallied more than 1%. Europe is currently up across-the-board. France, Germany and London are up more than 1%. Futures here in the States point towards a moderate gap up open for the cash market.
The dollar is flat. Oil is up, copper down. Gold and silver are down.
For the second straight week Monday morning’s trading will be in reaction to bailout news from Cyprus. Last week’s bailout was rejected. This one is much more kind to small depositors and much more harsh to large depositors. Deposits of less than 100,000 euros will be protected. Over 100,000 will be seized and subjected to a yet-to-be-determined tax. Essentially, instead of getting bailed out by the EU or Germany or any number of other sources, Cyprus will be bailed out by its depositors. This is beyond unbelievable. The precedent that is being set – that your money is not really your money, it can be taken at any time – is beyond comprehension.
I said last week, and I’ll say it again, if I had money in a bank in Spain, I’d be withdrawing the money. I also said last week the difference between this bailout and the bailout of US banks during the financial crisis is the same difference between putting a frog in a pot of boiling water and putting it in room temperature water and turning up the heat very slowly. Those of us in the US are shocked the government can just step in and steal money from accounts, but if you add up all the money we’ve lost as a result of not earning any interest the last 4+ years, we might be getting screwed worse than the large depositors in Cyprus.
Markets all over the world have reacted positively to the news. Not a surprise. If 1) Cyprus gets bailed out and 2) you don’t have to pay the bill, you’re happy and life goes on.
News trumps the charts, so at least initially, the market will trade off the Cyprus news. More after the open.
headlines at Yahoo Finance
headlines at MarketWatch
today’s upgrades/downgrades
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers
0 thoughts on “Before the Open (Mar 25)”
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Nearing a top of some sort soon my indicators say 70% probable. Sell in May coincides with budget standoff, although the CR for FY13 may be near, but the real deal is the debt limit and it could be center of summer trading. I will be in short term bonds and cash waiting to see if anyone gives a hoot.
“The precedent that is being set – that your money is not really your money, it can be taken at any time – is beyond comprehension”
Agree. This could shake the economic foundation of the world. People did not trust the banks 100 years ago. The government took over and put in safety nets and …. look what is happening in Cyprus.
I don’t have money in a Cyprus bank but that said where is money safe? The US government will have to fix it’s balance sheet soon. I see a new idea coming to DC.
Jason is right. Financial repression is a way of stealing money from small investors and giving it to banks. Don’t forget the 3.8% “transaction tax” in Obamacare. When you sell your house, they take 3.8%. They have dipped in and confiscated 3.8% of your home wealth. The outcome is the same, the means are just different.
the usa govt and uncle ben is taking everyones money
and there is nothing u can do or say to stop it
except get out of usa
the fed by destroying the value of the dollar—well isnt that your money
now throw in some hyper inflation on basic items and devalued wages ,homes ect
put in some more taxes,stop usa citizens owning gold or forign currencies
cut out some perks and no food stamps cant afford them
but dont worry we will give you free health care to cover your nervious break down
now if everyone could print their own money ,we would be alright
or would that be all wrong
Why should an American be shocked that the government steals money from an account? Only because he does not remember history!! The US government stole physical bullion from citizens by forcing citizens to sell the gold to the government and making gold possession illegal (stealing freedom to act). The government stole money from those citizens that had gold clauses in contracts as the US government repudiated those clauses.It is called expropriation without representation. Commonly called theft. Today the officials call it a ‘haircut’. They are confused. They should call Warren Beatty. He knows all about haircuts. At least he gave you a ‘Shampoo’ before cutting.