European Central Bank In Panic Mode as Economy Stalls

 

The eurozone could not borrow from the momentum of the U.S. economy in the third quarter as economic growth slumped to a tepid 0.2% , the slowest rate in more than four years. With the 19-nation currency bloc beginning to stagnate, and the heavyweights failing to post significant gains, Brussels is in panic mode, likely leaning on the European Central Bank (ECB) for further stimulus.

Economists originally anticipated growth of 0.4%. But global trade woes, tumbling business confidence, Italian distress, and the gradual dissipation of an accommodative monetary policy all contributed to the poor numbers in the July-September period.

All Euros Gravitate To Germany

 

The Euro has been around for almost 20 years. The Russian transfer ruble survived 25 years. As GEFIRA explains, the two currencies have something in common: they were and are not a success story…

The introduction of the transfer ruble was intended to enable free trade between the countries of the Eastern bloc. The creation of the common clearing system led to the exchange rates for the East German mark, zloty, forint, lev, and even the Mongolian tugrik being arbitrarily fixed by the Soviet Union, regardless of the purchasing power of the national currencies. In the 1960s, the Bulgarian lev was 20% undervalued and the Polish zloty about 45% overvalued. Since the transfer ruble was not yet convertible into Western currencies, it remained an illusion and a means by which the Soviet Union could enrich itself and save its budget at the expense of its satellite states: the Russians bought raw materials, goods, food for convertible currencies in the West and sold them to their “socialist friends” for transfer rubels. The international bank for economic cooperation, which sat in Moscow and handled all transactions in the transfer ruble, swept the real trade surpluses and deficits under the carpet. With the political change the common settlement currency came to to an end, and it turned out that the Soviet Union owed huge sums to its “brothers”.

The Central Bank Crisis on the Immediate Horizon

 

While the majority keep bashing the Federal Reserve, other central banks seem to escape any criticism. The European Central Bank under Mario Draghi has engaged in what history will call the Great Monetary Experiment of the 21st Century – the daring experiment of negative interest rates. A look behind the scenes reveals that this experiment has been not just a failure, it has undermined the entire global economic structure.

From a German Euro to a German ECB (II)

As mentioned several times in the past, Germany is running the European Union and Europe once again. This time around the conquest is via subjugation of national sovereignty and economic warfare. They have their key politicians in key positions across the European board. The European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary fund (the Troika) are all but one example. Regardless of how everything on the EU landscape currently looks, further federalization/integration is the only solution they keep proposing to their problems, and this is ultimately leading to a United States of Europe with its own European Army, which is already beginning to supplant NATO. The Fourth Reich has landed and if you’re looking for Nazis, you’re 70 years too late.

 

BERLIN/BRUSSELS (Own report) – The EU finance ministers’ decision to appoint the Spaniard Luis de Guindos to be vice president of the European Central Bank (ECB), will boost the chances of German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann to become its next president. Berlin has welcomed the decision for Spain’s current Minister of the Economy Guindos, considered to be one of the fathers of the Spanish real estate bubble. Subsequent to his designation as vice-president, a northern European is expected to be given the post of ECB president, due to the EU’s proportional regional representation. According to observers, a conceivable deal may be reached with Germany’s Weidmann at the helm of the ECB and the post of EU Commission President going to France. The current German Bundesbank president is unpopular in Southern Europe because he has been systematically trying to prevent current ECB President Mario Draghi’s bond buying programs, considered to be vital for the crisis stricken countries. With Weidmann as ECB president, Germany would further tighten its grip on the euro zone’s financial institutions.

European Commission Trying to Seize Control of Euro

 

 

I reported previously that the European Commission is seeking to take the clearing of the Euro derivative transactions from London and move them to Paris. The European Central Bank (ECB) is warning that it must secure strong access rights for the supervision of the cross-border settlement of financial transactions after the departure of Great Britain from the EU. About 90%+ of all euro derivatives transactions are settled via clearing houses in London such as LCH.Clearnet. In the middle of a crisis, the ECB would have no power to shut the market to protect the euro from the free market forces. Of course, what they fail to grasp here is trying to seize the euro clearing and move it by decree to Paris will only undermine the euro even more. What will they do next? Forbid the euro to trade in New York, Chicago, or Asia? Do that and the euro will become a massive short.

Draghi Says Anyone Leaving the EU Must Pay But EU Will Not Refund Surpluses

 

In the Netherlands, the Forum For Democracy leader Thierry Baudet confronted Mario Draghi of the ECB asking that since he had said anyone leaving must pay the ECB and exit fee of whatever they owe, he said the Netherlands had €100bn surplus at the ECB they should get back is. Mario Draghi stated bluntly, NO! In other words,  the view at the ECB is what is yours is their’s and what is theirs is theirs.  We have put together a very important report on the Euro covering all the issues and why it is really doomed.

EU Declares USA is new Enemy

A “federalized Europe” as in the United States of Europe, all under German control.

 

 

The European Union’s chief BREXIT negotiator, Guy Verhofstadt, told Reuters that Donald Trump is part of a three-pronged attempt to undermine the European Union. His comments reflect just how deranged the EU politicians really are for they will accept no blame whatsoever for any of their own policies that are dictatorial in nature and have sought from the start to federalize Europe while denying that was their goal all along.

Verhofstadt told Reuters that the other two threats were radicalized Islam, which them themselves opened their own borders to accept with open-arms, and from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who just said that Europe should stay together. Putin even warned that the EU would not be a global player as is.

Draghi Admits EU May Breakup For First Time

For the first time, the head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, has conceded the possibility that the EU may fall apart. Draghi came out and said that any member leaving the Eurozone would need to settle its claims or debts with the bloc’s payments system before severing ties. This statement reveals the heated discussion at Davos and the rift that is beginning to spread. This statement, released on Friday, was made in a letter to two Italian lawmakers in the European Parliament.

EURO PLUNGE: Single currency could ‘COLLAPSE’ against dollar amid record losing streak

Investors have frantically dumped the single currency over 10 consecutive trading sessions – the worst performance since the euro was introduced in 1999.

Head of the European Central Bank (ECB) Mario Draghi failed to ease fears after warning that the eurozone recovery depends on action by monetary policymakers.

Central banks ‘have never been on thinner ice’

Banks are in over their heads in trouble. Central banks are over their heads in trouble as well. The only thing left to bail them all out would be the IMF — which is within the realm of possibility as we enter a harsh downturn.

 

Sentiment at IMF annual meeting sours on Fed, BOJ, ECB

The global financial elite has soured on global central bank policy, believing that it’s now counterproductive, doing more harm than good.

That was the message on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund’s annual meeting in Washington, where in informal survey of more than 100 bankers found more than 70% saying monetary policy is now part of the problem instead of a solution.

European Central Bank can’t fix Europe’s economy, warns UBS boss

EUROPE’s monetary policymakers can’t fix the bloc’s economy woes, the boss of a leading investment bank has warned.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has the near impossible task of nursing the region back to health and has tried a number of desperate initiatives in recent years to kick-start growth.

Yet most recent figures signal the bloc is still struggling to stay afloat.

Now or never: European Central Bank chief orders nations to fix EU problems or FALL

In the face of social, economic and cultural inconpatability, the only solution European leaders have ever had is further integration as a means to achieve the United States of Europe.

 

THE EUROPEAN UNION is deepening discontent across all member states with its failure to tighten external borders, co-ordinate defence policies and tackle inequality, according to European Central Bank President.

Mario Draghi said EU leaders are reversing progress made in recent years with policies which “have at times been reminiscent of the interwar period: isolationism, protectionism, nationalism”.

Mr Draghi called European policies such as Schengen “incomplete” and plans for integration “dangerous”.

Europe’s stock markets PLUNGE amid fears ECB has run out of tools to save eurozone

THE European Central Bank (ECB) has shocked markets by today taking no action to prop up the eurozone, despite warning signs the economy is struggling to cope with Britain’s vote to leave the European Union (EU).

Stock markets in Europe were in the red after the ECB unexpectedly left policy unchanged amid the worrying outlook for the eurozone.

A flurry of dire data in the weeks after the Brexit vote has pointed towards a sharp slowdown for the bloc, prompting expectations the central bank would take decisive action.

Deutsche Bank CEO Warns Of “Fatal Consequences” For Savers

 

Deutsche Bank’s war of words with the ECB is not new: it was first unveiled in February when, as we wrote at the time “A Wounded Deutsche Bank Lashed Out At Central Bankers: Stop Easing, You Are Crushing Us.” Europe’s largest bank, with the massive derivatives book, then upped the ante several months later in June, when its chief economist Folkerts-Landau launched a shocking anti-ECB rant in which it warned of social unrest and another Great Depression.

Ironically, these infamous diatribes hurt more than helped: telegraphing to the market just how hurt DB was as a result of the ECB’s monetary policy, the market punished its stock, which has been recently trading within spitting distance of all time lows, in effect making Deutsche Bank’s life even harder as it now has to contend not only with its own internal profitability problems, but also has to maintain a market-facing facade that all is well. So far, it has not worked out very well, prompting numerous comparisons to another infamous bank.

70% Of German Bonds Are No Longer Eligible For ECB Purchases

 

Back in April of 2015, we warned that the biggest risk facing the ECB is running out of eligible securities which the central bank can monetize. Draghi’s recent launch of the CSPP, in which the ECB has been buying not only investment grade but also junk bonds, is an indirect confirmation of that. A direct one comes courtesy of a Bloomberg calculation according to which following a seventh straight week of gains in German bunds, the yields on securities of all maturities has plunged to unprecedented lows, which has left about $801 billion of debt out of the statutory reach of the European Central Bank.

As noted earlier, there is now $13 trillion of global negative-yielding debt. That compares with $11 trillion before the Brexit vote. The surge in sovereign debt since Britain’s vote to exit the European Union last month has pushed yields on about 70% of the securities in the $1.1-trillion Bloomberg Germany Sovereign Bond Index below the ECB’s -0.4% deposit rate, making them ineligible for the institution’s quantitative-easing program. For the euro area as a whole, the total rises to almost $2 trillion.