Flash: US and European Futures Open Sharply Lower

EUR/USD cross is around 1.301 now, -0.55% lower from Friday’s close.

Sunday’s elections in Europe occurred in three countries with diverse economic circumstances (France, Germany, and Greece); and they were for different parts of government (presidential, regional, and parliamentary respectively). Yet the common message from the electorate is undeniable, reminiscent of a famous line in the 1976 movie Network: “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!”

Much will be written about these elections, and rightly so as they could well mark a further evolution in Europe’s regional integration efforts. They unambiguously show that the electorate is angry and has lost confidence in the ability of traditional politicians to solve the region’s crisis. Indeed, many citizens are yearning for alternatives but, as yet, are not coalescing around a common view of what these should be. As a result, political realities will complicate even more what is an already delicate economic and financial outlook for Europe, the world’s largest economic area.

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“Euro leadership, especially Ms. Merkel, need to understand that austerity policies are over”. “The parties that signed the memorandum of agreement are a minority. Their signatures are not legitimate” .

-Alexis Tsipras (this guy just won the fucking election)

Say hello to the socialist, Hollande.

NOTE: French turnout was over 80%. Can you say referendum?

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Source: sharespost

The first general election since Greece’s debt crisis exploded at the end of 2009 will go a long way to dictating whether the country will stick to the terms of EU/IMF bailouts which saved it from bankruptcy but propelled it into a deep recession.
At stake is whether the country that drew the decade-old euro zone into the worst crisis since its creation could push it back into turmoil.

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Tin +13%
Silver +9.4%
Platinum +8.5%
Gasoline +8.1%
Copper +7.8%
Cocoa +7.6%
Lithium +6.9%
Uranium +5.7%
Gold +4.9%
—————–

Natural Gas -36%
Coffee -25%
Corn -10.3%
Livestock -8.9%
Coal -6.3%
Sugar -5.3%
Nickel -5.1%
Cotton -3%
Oil -2.2%

“Gold is a great thing to sew into your garments if you’re a Jewish family in Vienna in 1939,” the Berkshire vice chairman said, “but I think civilized people don’t buy gold, they invest in productive businesses.”

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In mid-October 2008, as the Treasury was discussing which banks would be bailed out in the Trouble Asset Relief Program (TARP), Kerry bought up to $550,000 worth of Citigroup stock and up to $350,000 worth of Bank of America shares. Days later, the American public learned that Citigroup would receive $50 billion from the TARP fund and up to $277 billion in additional loan guarantees. Bank of America also received $50 billion from TARP.

During the contentious healthcare debate in 2009, Schweizer noted, Kerry loaded up on pharmaceutical stocks, purchasing close to $750,000 worth of shares in one company—Teva Pharmaceuticals—in the month of November alone.

Drug companies were viewed to be among the major beneficiaries of the Democratic healthcare legislation. Pharmaceuticals “kicked in $80 billion to help make the bill work, but stand to make 10 times that amount in revenues from added government and government-subsidized business,” liberal columnist Howard Fineman wrote inNewsweek.

Teva stock was trading at about $50 a share when Kerry started buying, but jumped to $62 a share after the healthcare bill was passed, an increase of nearly 25 percent. After Obama signed the bill into law, Kerry sold his Teva shares, realizing tens of thousands in capital gains.

Kerry also bought shares of ResMed, a company that makes medical devices, which surged more than 70 percent after the healthcare bill’s passage. Throughout the healthcare negotiations, Kerry consistently opposed efforts to increase taxes on companies like ResMed.

He also purchased stock in Thermo Fisher Scientific, a firm providing products and services to hospitals, at $35 a share. After passage, they were trading at $50 a share, an increase of more than 40 percent.

In 2009, MCA announced he was being treated for a cancerous parotid gland and a lymph node. He has since undergone surgery and radiation therapy.

So far, it’s not clear if the death is related to the rapper’s battle with cancer.

Russell Simmons’ website GlobalGrind.com first reported the death. We have spoken to people independently connected to the rapper who also say he is dead.

This is unconfirmed.

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The iPad is once again the undisputed heavyweight champion of the tablet world. Apple’s “magical” tablet re-asserted its dominance of the market following a period that saw both the launch of the latest model and a drop-off in sales of its chief competitor, the Kindle Fire. As a result, the iPad now accounts for 68% of the tablet market, according to figures from a market-research company.

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Worst performers over the past weeks.

A French American scientist has invented a new alcohol spray that instantly intoxicates the user. However, the effects are nearly as brief, wearing off in a matter of moments.
The spray, WA|HH Quantum Sensations, was created by David Edwards and was unveiled during a recent Paris exhibition.
The short-term effects are reportedly due to the 0.075 millileter dosage. In other words, it would take 1,000 sprays to equal the level of alcohol contained in one conventional drink.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voiLpQa7Ezg&feature=g-all-u