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Voting in Sunday's much-watched Greek elections has ended, and exit polls suggest that the far-left Syriza party has captured nearly 40 percent of the vote. While this may not be enough to ensure a parliamentary majority in Greece's electoral system, it's now clear that Alexis Tsipras, a fiery 40-year-old once considered too radical for national politics, will lead the next Greek government. Tsipras has promised to end Greece's "austerity program," a series of spending cuts and tax hikes designed to reduce the country's enormous bailout debt, which equals 175 percent of its GDP. Freed from this burden, Tsipras argues, the...

Despite all the fear-mongering by Nea Demokratia (ND), Syriza's victory over the incumbent is dramatically larger than expected (exit polls indicate a potential 12 point margin vs 7 point spreads in the run-up). However, as JPMorgan details, the fear-mongery was very evident in bank deposit runs as proxied outflows surge EUR8 billion last week - more than all of December and the rest of January combined...Via JPMorgan Flows & LiquidityGreek deposit outflows rise sharply this week The monthly Bank of Greece balance sheet data for the month of December revealed a significant increase in Greek bank ECB borrowing which...

The far-left Syriza party, the winner of Greece's election, has formed an anti-austerity coalition with a right-wing party, the Greek Independents. Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras has taken the oath of office as the new prime minister. He has vowed to renegotiate Greece's bailout, worth 240 bn euros (179 bn pounds, $268 bn). European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker congratulated Mr. Tsipras while reminding him of the challenge of "ensuring fiscal responsibility.".......... With nearly all of the votes counted in Sunday's poll, Syriza looks set to have 149 seats, just two short of an absolute majority. The Greek Independents are projected to...

As late as yesterday I read numerous mainstream media reports that Syriza would win by three to five percent and would need to form an unstable coalition to rule. In contrast, here was my January 19 prediction (and rationale): Expect a Blowout Win by Syriza in Greece. Syriza Trounces New Democracy The final votes are not counted, but exit polls show a blowout, with incumbent party New Democracy going down in flames. The Wall Street Journal reports GreeceÂ’s Radical Leftist Syriza Party Poised to Win Election, Exit Polls Say. Syriza appeared set to win between 35.5% and 39.5% of the...

The vote totals are still being finalized but the latest show the SYRIZA Party at 150 of the 300 seats in the Greek parliament with 36.3 percent of the vote. This is one vote short of an overall majority but multiple media sources including "The Wall Street Journal" are reporting that the conservative Independent Greeks, who broke away from the New Democracy (Republican type) Party in 2011 and are firmly against the EU austerity program will join up to stablilize the government. The Independent Greeks (ANEL) won 4.7 percent of the popular vote and 13 seats. The SYRIZA-ANEL alliance would...

Greek banks have seen a marked increase in the pace of bank withdrawals as a June 17 general election nears and fears grow that Greece could be forced out of the euro, senior bankers said on Wednesday. Combined daily deposit outflows from the major Greek banks have reached 500-800 million euros over the past few days, with the pace picking up as the election draws closer and rising noticeably on Tuesday, two bankers said. Deposit outflows at smaller and medium sized banks were running at 10-30 million euros. "This includes cash withdrawals, wire transfers and investments into money market funds,...

Leftist leader Alexis Tsipras gave up his attempt to form a new government on Wednesday, pushing Greece closer to its second election in a few weeks, after voter rejection of an EU/IMF bailout plunged the country into crisis. Last Sunday's election, in which voters vented rage against mainstream parties over debt cutting measures imposed in exchange for the bailout, has caused deep political deadlock and brought European threats to eject Greece from the euro.

www.FinancialSurvivalNetwork.com presents: "Ranting" Andy Hoffman was with us today to review the ever declining and disintegrating world economy and to offer us his weekly insight into the precious metals markets. While gold and silver prices have been under repeated attack, Spain, Portugal and Italy have become complete basket-cases. Add to that, the election of a socialist government over the weekend in France, declining support for Merkel in Germany, and Conservative Party losses in England, and you have the prescription for a hyper-inflationary bust. In Greece, the major parties only received 35 percent of the vote, with the majority being split...

Eurozone Crisis: Merkel Tells Athens And Paris To Stick To Spending Limits Efforts to save the euro under threat after EU leaders' strategies collide with the wishes of voters in Greece and France Ian Traynor 7 May 2012 Europe's 30-month effort to save the euro by slashing spending and debt levels risks turning into a crisis of political legitimacy after EU leaders' strategies collided spectacularly with the wishes of voters in Greece and France. The impasse was most graphically demonstrated when Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, insisted Athens must comply with the stringent terms of its €130bn (£100bn) bailout even though...

French and Greek elections have overthrown Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, as the dominant force in European politics, newspapers in Germany have concluded. "The hour of the extremists," warned Handelsblatt, Germany's financial newspaper, predicting that the defeat of pro-EU austerity parties in Greek elections will bring "an unparalleled political upheaval". … In an editorial, the newspaper warned that Greece could bring "political chaos" to Europe. … Writing about their French neighbors, Süddeutsche Zeitung says: "Goodbye election campaign—bonjour reality." … Die Welt sees the French and Greek vote as interlinked, spelling "the rejection of Merkel's system in Europe". In an editorial,...

The surprise winner in the Greek elections is a communist party called the Coalition of the Radical Left, led by a young, charismatic leader named Alexis Tsipras. At the age of 37, he now commands the second largest party in the new government — provided a coalition government can be formed — winning nearly 17 percent of the vote. He spoke exclusively with CNBC back in September 2011 to make clear that he did not support the program that the then-Greek government agreed to in order to secure more than $200 billion in loans to keep the country financially afloat....

First Exit Polls released just minutes ago per Twitter: Greece Exit Poll: ND 17-20% PASOK 14-17% SYRIZA 15,5-18,5% AN. ELLHN. 10-12% KKE 7,5-9,5% XRYSH AYGH 6-8% DHMAR 4,5-6,5% This is IMPORTANT, and could dramatically effect the world economies very quickly.

(Reuters) - The euro tanked on Monday, breaking below its well-worn range from the past three months against the dollar after elections in Greece and France raised fresh concerns that the euro zone's hard-earned bailout and austerity steps could fall apart. In particular, the apparent failure of two pro-bailout ruling parties in Greece to win a majority in the parliament is throwing the future of the bailout scheme for the country into doubt. With 95 percent of votes counted, the conservative New Democracy (ND) and socialist PASOK, who have dominated Greece for decades, is seen falling short of the 151-seat...