Check this **** out. Hope the link works.


http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/2012/....


23.10 GMT+2 It is entirely impossible to estimate the number of people who have taken to the streets in Athens tonight. They are definitely in the hundreds of thousands – there are simply people everywhere.

23.07 GMT+2 The building of Marfin bank (the same building where three bank workers died on May 5, 2010) has been burnt to the ground.

As the Greek parliament approved a deeply unpopular austerity bill to secure a second bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund, protesters stormed Athens, setting fire to buildings and throwing bombs made of gas canisters at police.

The historic vote paves the way for Greece's European partners and the International Monetary Fund to release $170 billion (€130 billion) in new rescue loans, without which Greece would default on its mountain of debt next month and likely leave the eurozone — a scenario that would further roil global markets.

But critics worry that the bill, which will reduce the minimum wage by 22 percent and slash one in five civil service jobs, will condemn the Greek economy to an ever-deeper downward spiral.

As lawmakers convened to vote, 100,000 protesters descended on the capitol. At least 45 buildings were burned, including one housing the Asty, an underground cinema used by the Gestapo during World War II as a torture chamber.

As riots raged for hours, police advanced across the square, firing tear gas and stun grenades. Black-masked protesters created a wall of fire with petrol bombs. Loud booms from the protests could be heard inside parliament.

Fifty police officers and at least 55 protesters were hospitalized. Forty-five suspected rioters were arrested and another 40 were detained.

"I've had it! I can't take it anymore. There's no point in living in this country anymore," said a man walking through his smashed and looted optician store.
Violence also spread to six other Greek cities, the worst in central Volos where the town hall and tax office were damaged by fire.

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos had urged lawmakers to back the bailout reforms, saying the "wrong decision" in the bailout vote would lead to catastrophic default and exit from the euro.

Altogether 199 of the 300 lawmakers backed the bill, but 43 deputies from the two parties in Papademos’ government, the socialists and conservatives, rebelled by voting against. They were immediately expelled by their parties.

'Issue of survival'
Since May 2010, Greece has survived on a €110 billion ($145 billion) bailout from its European partners and the International Monetary Fund. When that proved insufficient, a new rescue loan package worth a further €130 billion ($171 billion) was decided — combined with a massive bond swap deal that will write off half the country's privately held debt.

read the rest @ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46358793/ns/....

Is it Photoguy bad yet?

they'll get BOTH eventually:

DEFAULT

AND

AUSTERITY

Quote:

Altogether 199 of the 300 lawmakers backed the bill, but 43 deputies from the two parties in Papademos’ government, the socialists and conservatives, rebelled by voting against. They were immediately expelled by their parties.

There is only one party in Greece now, the Bankster Party. Expelling the dissenters can only lead to civil war, what an insanely stupid crime against democratic rule.

Futures up in the US....rally on.

Buckeye---what part of "cue the monkey" did you not understand? (g)...

pretty weak rally in Europe,very muted, and already faded to a degree, Italy very flat due to downgrades and the Euro failed to even reach 1:33 , the only big pop was the S&P. Expect an imminent ramp job before the US open???

"... in a sign of the intense public pressure facing Greek politicians, Antonis Samaras, leader of New Democracy and likely the next prime minister, said the measures should be renegotiated after national elections expected in April ... Greece must make its final bond-exchange offer to private-sector bondholders by Friday at the latest"

SOURCE: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424....

Basically what's happening right now is that the Greek government is setting the stage on how they're going to manage their finances so the investment community will know what to expect for the long haul when the "final bond-exchange offer" comes on Friday. Thus they're putting on a good face now that they're born again austerity hawks. Then once the interest rate has been firmed up the Greeks are going to renegotiate everything in April so they can get back to business as usual on how they manage their country's government budget balancing. Samaras's comments ought to be very important to anyone considering a long term investment in Greek bonds since the long term rates will reflect how well Greece does at sticking to their austerity promises they're making now which they'll be throwing out the window in April.

Greece fire priced in.


(Not so)Strangely enough, construction futures and new commercial building starts are up this morning! (OK, so I fabricated that last part.... how am I any different than the .gov numbers you've seen?)

It's all priced in....everything

Now that Greece is "saved" and EU is suppose to vote on the second bailout, has everyone forgotten last week top news headline about the difficult haircut negotiations? Wasn't that suppose to be a pre-requisite? Even when an agreement is reached they would still need weeks for the bondholders to approve the deal?

I am utterly confused and disgusted that this seems to be completely omitted in all MSM newdbits...

"Enthusiasm?" LOL...

Greek-vote enthusiasm clouded by Athens unrest
Riots, political tensions heighten implementation risks

By William L. Watts, MarketWatch

FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) — Investors on Monday cheered the Greek parliament’s passage of tough new austerity measures, but economists say plenty could still go wrong as the country tries to find its economic footing amid growing civil unrest and political tensions.

While protesters hurled Molotov cocktails and clashed with police amid scenes of burning buildings, Greece’s parliament voted 199 to 74 just past midnight on Monday to approve new spending cuts and other austerity measures demanded by the nation’s international lenders.

The approval means Greece will likely receive a second bailout and avert a March default.

“The big question mark relates to when Greece will be able to return to positive economic growth. We reckon this will unlikely materialize before [the second half of 2013]; a long time framework over which Greek citizens might get increasingly disaffected to the adjustment package and to those imposing it,” said Paolo Pizzoli, senior economist at ING Bank in Milan.

William L Watts, the author of that Marketwatch article is worthy of a Soviet Memorial Journalism award.

My irritation with this is that I don't have a side I feel good backing. **** the pols and the leech****s both! But.... Take those away, and there's no one left in Greece.

**** it, I'm for whoever can cause the most global damage the quickest. It's time to get the ball rolling and I don't care WHO starts it.

Quote:

pretty weak rally in Europe,very muted, and already faded to a degree, . . .

Draghi hinted as to the size of this month's LTRO. Perhaps the banks have figured that all or a high percentage of it will be allocated to bond buying. There's a truckload of sovereign debt coming due in the months to follow.

The vote problem is easily fixed - don't hold one. This isn't resolved until Germany says yes or no and so far she has been silent

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks rose Monday after Greece approved austerity measures to ensure funds needed to avoid default.

“This will provide enough financing to avoid a disorderly default in the near term, but it’s unlikely the story is over,” said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Asset Management Group in Pittsburgh.

Greece is the word....for everything

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Treasury prices edged up on Monday, pushing yields down slightly, after Greece passed a package of fiscal measures leaders hope will satisfy bailout providers — the European Union and the International Monetary Fund — and thus enable it to avoid a debt default.

Still, with European officials scheduled to meet in a couple days and make that decision, investors remain cautious about stepping away from the relative safe-haven status of U.S. debt. Read more on what’s next for Greece.

This is knee-slapping hilarity...

By Claudia Assis and Michael Kitchen, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures rose Monday after the Greek government passed an austerity program required to receive international aid and avoid a messy default, which raised hopes for the global economy and for more oil demand.

Supply fears were also stoked following bombings connected to Israeli embassies in New Delhi and Tbilisi, which the Israeli government blamed on Iran.

Just burn the whole ****ing country to the ground.

I hear one side saying we must have austerity so we can still receive welfare from Germany.

And I hear the other side saying we must get what we have always gotten.

No one that's making policy or protesting seems to have the right answer which is just to spend what you can tax and be done with it.

In the meantime - Just burn the ****ing country to the ground.

TMD---I would like to pick your brain soon regarding the mortgage industry. YGM...