Free Republic

Deutsche Bank can only be saved by the German government, strategist says Matt Clinch | @mattclinch81 Only a substantial intervention by the German government can stop the collapse of the country's largest lender, Deutsche Bank, according to Stefan Müller, the CEO of Frankfurt-based boutique research company DGAW. "Deutsche Bank doesn't realize that something serious needs to happen," he told CNBC via telephone on Thursday morning. "(CEO John) Cryan clearly showed that he has no idea how to survive." The embattled German lender saw a respite on Wednesday from hefty selling seen in previous sessions amid contradictory reports on whether the...

The European Central Bank left its stimulus measures on hold Thursday and warned governments in the 19 country euro currency union that they need to do more to help the economy grow and push up inflation to healthier levels. The bank kept its key interest rates unchanged and decided against extending the duration of its existing bond-buying stimulus program. Bank President Mario Draghi seemed relatively confident about the economy and less inclined to hint at more stimulus than some analysts had expected. Instead, he used his news conference to urge governments to do their part. He said that implementation of...

Large parts of the eurozone are slipping deeper into a deflationary trap despite negative interest rates and one trillion euros of quantitative easing by the European Central Bank, leaving the currency bloc with no safety buffer when the next global recession hits. The ECB is close to exhausting its ammunition and appears increasingly powerless to do more under the legal constraints of its mandate. It has downgraded its growth forecast for the next two years, citing the uncertainties of Brexit, and admitted that it has little chance of meeting its 2pc inflation target this decade, insisting that it is now...

At first (literally the day the Fed announced QE1) it was just "tinfoil fringe blogs" who predicted the failure of the central bank's attempt to boost the economy by printing money, instead warning that all the Fed would do is unleash an unprecedented income and wealth divide that may culminate in civil war and hyperinflation. Then, gradually, analysts, pundits and even the mainstream press admitted the truth, i.e., that tin-foilers were right all along, until recently even the Fed's own mouthpiece, Jon Hilsenrath, one day before the Jackson Hole meeting wrote that "Years of Fed Missteps Fueled Disillusion With the...

German property firms expect a boom in Frankfurt as financial businesses move activities and staff out of London in the wake of Brexit, an industry survey showed on Monday. A majority of 72 percent of respondents believed financial center Frankfurt, rather than rivals Dublin, Paris, or Amsterdam, would gain the most from Britain leaving the European Union, the study of 555 firms by consultants Ernst & Young (EY) found. The German property market as a whole would get a boost from Brexit, 57 percent of those polled said, with large majorities expecting prices for commercial and residential properties to increase....

Germany’s top court ruled on Tuesday that a key crisis-fighting tool of the European Central Bank complies with German national law. The constitutional court ruled that the ECB’s 2012 bond-buying plan called Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) complies with German law. OMT — though never actually used — was part of ECB’s President Mario Draghi’s landmark promise to do “whatever it takes” to save the battered euro at the height of the crisis in 2012. […] The promise of OMT was that the ECB could, if necessary, buy up unlimited amounts of government bonds from debt-stricken countries that had pledged reforms...

Over the course of the last few months, Brexit has become one of the biggest catch-all preemptive scapegoats of recorded human history. Even far beyond the old continent’s porous borders, politicians, central bankers, and economists are warning their respective populations to brace for a serious aftershock if the people of Britain vote to leave the EU. This is is a remarkable feat given that the UK has its own perfectly functioning currency, and as such decoupling from the EU, while bumpy, should not pose an immediate financial threat either to the UK or the EU, let alone the world at...

The central bank experiment with negative interest rates—where governments charge you to buy their debt—is reaching a tipping point. Fierce political backlash is emerging against a policy that hurts savers and small businesses, all of which could have ramifications for U.S. markets. The bulk of negative-yielding debt is concentrated in Japan and Europe. Globally, the total is now $10.4 trillion, according to Fitch Ratings. In Japan, where politicians are preparing for the next election cycle, negative rates have become a hotbed issue. The chief policy architect of Japan’s new Democratic Party, Shiori Yamao, just came out publicly against the Bank...

Chief editor of Grant's Interest Rate Observer debunks negative interest rates, banning cash, and helicopter money. ... Epoch Times spoke to Mr. Grant about the spotty track record of central bankers, deflation, gold and the gold standard, as well as negative interest rates and a ban on cash. A negative interest rate is not only a tax on saving, it is the destruction of saving. ... Negative interest rates are an attempt to tax thrift. The idea of earning dollar bills and putting those dollar bills in a bank and having them accumulate over time, the accumulation of which is...

Last week, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi (shown) tried to do an impression of former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Although "Helicopter Ben" — he of the massive, innovative "stimulus" monetary policies enacted in response to the Great Recession, which pumped trillions of new dollars into the global economy — has been retired from the helm of the Fed for several years, he casts a very long shadow indeed. Draghi's own newly enacted stimulus, designed to boost Europe out of persistent economic malaise, not only takes a few pages out of the Bernanke playbook, it moves central banking into...

The European Union on Thursday predicted the region's economy will grow at "a modest pace" next year thanks to cheap energy and central bank stimulus, but remains hampered by low investment and high debt. In an official forecast, European Commissioner Pierre Moscovici warned of uneven improvements across the 28 member states but said that for 2016, the EU economies will "see growth rising and unemployment and fiscal deficits falling." ...

(Title edited due to lemgth) Fears the central bank of Greece will collapse following today's referendum are rising as voters flocked to the polls to decide on their country's future. [snip] Officials are set to ask the European Central Bank (ECB) for emergency cash in a bid to stave off financial ruin following tonight's result, it has been reported. [snip] It comes as some sources also suggested ATMs will not open this evening in a bid to save money after EU leaders threatened to withdraw the euro in the event of a 'No' vote.

The European Central Bank is expected to end emergency lending to Greece's banks on Sunday, the BBC understands.Well-placed sources told BBC economics editor Robert Peston a decision to end the Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) would be made by the ECB's governing council later on Sunday.Greek banks depend on ELA.Cutting the lifeline could push Greece out of the euro. Some analysts have tweeted that the ECB is likely to cap, but not end, the ELA.

It appears that Herr Schaeuble will be left in the cold as following comments from the Greek energy minister that a deal is coming soon: -RUSSIA MAY SIGN GAS LINK ACCORD W/GREECE TODAY: ROSSIYA 24 According to Gazprom's CEO comments on Greek TV, following his meeting with Greek PM Tsipras, Russia will guarantee 47BCM/YR of gas via Greece with the link to be built by a Russian-European group at a cost of around E2 billion. SNIP As a reminder, Russia is not acting out of the kindness of his heart, but merely engaging in another calculated move, one which kills...

On Thursday morning, we took an in-depth look at what the progression of events is likely to be in the event a cash-strapped, negotiation-weary Greece finally, for lack of will or for lack of options, fails to scrape together enough cash to pay its creditors. As BofAML notes, a missed IMF payment and/or failure to make interest payments to either the ECB or private creditors over the coming weeks would likely lead to default within 30 days, at which point "mark-to-fantasy" becomes mark-to-market and then "mark-to-default" in very short order. Although Greek officials came out midday with a “categorical” denial...

Dear Greek readers: the writing is now on the wall, and it is in very clear 48-point, double bold, and underlined font: when the ECB "leaks" that it is modelling a Grexit, something Draghi lied about over and over in 2012 and directly in our face too, take it seriously, because it is time to start planning about what happens on "the day after." And incidentally to all those curious what the fair value of peripheral European bonds is excluding ECB backstops, the ECB has a handy back of the envelope calculation: a 95% loss. Which also is the...

Just what the market had hoped would not happen... *ECB SAYS IT LIFTS WAIVER ON GREEK GOVERNMENT DEBT AS COLLATERAL *ECB SAYS IT CAN'T ASSUME SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION OF GREECE REVIEW What this means simply is that since Greek banks are now unable to pledge Greek bonds as collateral and fund themselves, and liquidity is about to evaporate, the ECB has just given a green light for Greek bank runs... and all the worst parts of the bible (or merely a negotiating move to let Greece see just what kind of chaos this will create). And now finally, after many years...

The long-anticipated collapse of the euro is here. When European Central Bank president Mario Draghi unveiled an open-ended quantitative easing program worth at least 60 billion euros a month on Thursday, stocks soared but the euro plummeted like a rock. It hit an 11 year low of $1.13, and many analysts believe that it is going much, much lower than this. The speed at which the euro has been falling in recent months has been absolutely stunning. Less than a year ago it was hovering near $1.40. But since that time the crippling economic problems in southern Europe have gone...

5 years into the euro zone crisis the ECB announces a €1.1 trillion quantitative easing programme to boost economy. Bolder than expected. Draghi Commits ECB to Trillion-Euro Asset-Purchase Plan to Fight Deflation Mario Draghi led the European Central Bank into a new era, committing to a quantitative easing program worth at least 1.1 trillion euros ($1.3 trillion) to counter the threat of a deflationary spiral. The ECB president shrugged off determined opposition led by German officials with a pledge to buy 60 billion euros every month through September next year in a once-and-for-all push to put more cash into circulation...

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) - The global economic outlook just got brighter after this week's big stimulus from the European Central Bank, leading policymakers from around the world said Saturday. In a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, they said a perkier Europe, coupled with a prolonged period of low oil prices, could help shore up the global economy following a period of underperformance that has prompted many forecasters to reduce their growth forecasts. "Lower oil prices and the big decision by ECB could further improve world economic outlook," said Haruhiko Kuroda, governor of the Bank of Japan.