Politicians and non-elected maquinistas are still trying to figure out how to make the still-borne EFSF (European Financial Stability Facility) walk, or better, fly. A month after the “miracle of Cannes”, the trumpets of victory over the debt crisis have fallen silent. Instead, the first EFSF bond issue after the G20 summit ended up in…

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There is one simple rule for investors: avoid all things beginning with “Euro-“. Eurotunnel ended in bankruptcy. Eurodisney was a disaster for public shareholders. And so the Euro itself is following the same path. “Euro” birds European politicians are faced with one problem: none of their plans to end Europe’s debt crisis has worked. Absolutely…

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Whenever you come across a mystery in finance there always is an explanation. Like the question why the ECB would so ferociously resist any “haircuts” on Greek debt. Despite all the evidence that current debt, now expected to peak at levels exceeding most calculators’ capacity, is unsustainable. Why would the ECB, the largest single holder…

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Ben Bernanke promised to sit, like an elephant, on short-term interest rates for another two years  – at least. What were US Money Market Funds (MMF) going to do? US Treasury yields are 0.09% for 12 months, 0.02% for 6 and negative 0.01% for 3 months:   Source: Bloomberg 9/23/2011 You can’t deliver negative yields…

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Something odd is happening. Germans are leaving the ECB. First Weber, then Stark. Why would senior German officials withdraw from the ECB just at a time when they should seek greater influence? One explanation: to avoid having a conflict of interest once Germany re-instates the Bundesbank as the leading central bank of Europe. Currently, Germany…

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