"I'm very confident about the medium- and longer-term prospects of the Cypriot economy," says Harris Georgiades, Cyprus' new finance minister, who adds that the country has "some traditional industries, tourism and shipping amongst them." Despite downbeat commentary from the likes of Pimco's Mohamed El-Erian and harsh words from Mario Draghi regarding the country's gold sales, Georgiades says Cyprus "will remain a member of the eurozone. "That is our destiny," he says. [View news story]
Nothing is true until it has been officially denied. Since this has now come to pass Cyprus will likely leave the EU within a year or so.
The only reason the Euro exists at this moment is there are some who remember what Europe was like when it was little more than a collection of tribes who fought constantly with each other. Had modern weaponry not been invented in 1912 the frequent battles that characterized the 16th through 19th centuries would continue unabated. Should those who remember fail to finish their project of creating a single government the Euro will apart as quickly as it came together.
The odds on creating a unified European government are unknown. We should remember however that putting the U.S. together required close to 100 years and a major civil war. Even at that the South remained a "world apart" for about another 100 years until the invention of air conditioning.
The war to save the Euro has really just begun and there are going to be many battles along the way, any one of which could put the last nail in the coffin.
While Jill Priluck decries "the dark side of shareholder activism" on Reuters, the NYT's James Stewart highlights the "sham" shareholder democracy that has seen directors at dozens of publicly traded companies retaining their positions despite losing elections. The firms include Cablevision Systems (CVC), Vornado Realty Trust (VNO) and medical diagnostics Iris International, where shareholders rejected all nine directors in May 2011. They resigned but then voted to reject their own resignations. [View news story]
This is a sad state of affairs. I once met the folks who run Vornado. Not a crew who I would trust to hold my milk money. Even for real estate people they were incredibly greedy and low minded.
Microsoft (MSFT) officially launches Windows 8 at an NYC event (live blog) that's light on new details. More importantly, a flurry of Windows 8 reviews are out. Like others, David Pogue isn't a fan of Microsoft's efforts to fuse two UIs: "TileWorld is fantastic for touch screens ... Desktop Windows is obviously designed for the mouse ... you can’t live exclusively in one world or the other." The Verge has similar concerns, but is more positive about Win. 8's tablet potential. "Picking up a tablet PC with Windows 8 makes an iPad feel immediately out of date." (more) [View news story]
I've been using the beta version for several months. Windows 8 boots much faster than 7 and works seamlessly with Windows Phone. This is the best product MSFT has launched yet.
Debt forgiveness might be the next strategy of the Fed. What if the Fed waived its right to repayment on all the Treasuries that it holds? The other holders would be unaffected but the U.S. debt bubble would shrink overnight. The argument that the Fed would go bankrupt in this scenario seems moot. Who would put them into receivership? Other central banks? not likely.
"I'm very confident about the medium- and longer-term prospects of the Cypriot economy," says Harris Georgiades, Cyprus' new finance minister, who adds that the country has "some traditional industries, tourism and shipping amongst them." Despite downbeat commentary from the likes of Pimco's Mohamed El-Erian and harsh words from Mario Draghi regarding the country's gold sales, Georgiades says Cyprus "will remain a member of the eurozone. "That is our destiny," he says. [View news story]
The only reason the Euro exists at this moment is there are some who remember what Europe was like when it was little more than a collection of tribes who fought constantly with each other. Had modern weaponry not been invented in 1912 the frequent battles that characterized the 16th through 19th centuries would continue unabated. Should those who remember fail to finish their project of creating a single government the Euro will apart as quickly as it came together.
The odds on creating a unified European government are unknown. We should remember however that putting the U.S. together required close to 100 years and a major civil war. Even at that the South remained a "world apart" for about another 100 years until the invention of air conditioning.
The war to save the Euro has really just begun and there are going to be many battles along the way, any one of which could put the last nail in the coffin.
While Jill Priluck decries "the dark side of shareholder activism" on Reuters, the NYT's James Stewart highlights the "sham" shareholder democracy that has seen directors at dozens of publicly traded companies retaining their positions despite losing elections. The firms include Cablevision Systems (CVC), Vornado Realty Trust (VNO) and medical diagnostics Iris International, where shareholders rejected all nine directors in May 2011. They resigned but then voted to reject their own resignations. [View news story]
Microsoft (MSFT) officially launches Windows 8 at an NYC event (live blog) that's light on new details. More importantly, a flurry of Windows 8 reviews are out. Like others, David Pogue isn't a fan of Microsoft's efforts to fuse two UIs: "TileWorld is fantastic for touch screens ... Desktop Windows is obviously designed for the mouse ... you can’t live exclusively in one world or the other." The Verge has similar concerns, but is more positive about Win. 8's tablet potential. "Picking up a tablet PC with Windows 8 makes an iPad feel immediately out of date." (more) [View news story]
Higher Taxes, Inflation, Default (Choose One) [View article]