Get them gadgets yo….

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Part of the Dodd Frank regulation , larger banks are creating living wills in case of failure do to a break up of operations. An unwinding of bank operations may cause turmoil and the living wills are to help create an orderly bankruptcy.

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I predicted this three weeks ago.

6/26/2012: Federal Republic Of Germany: EJR lowered AA- to A+ (Neg.) (S&P: AAA) (3413Z GR)
Synopsis: German chancellor Angela Merkel continues to create tension with EU member states by resisting calls for EU bonds (shared liabs.), money printing calls and for her pushing for fiscal controls and the seniority of bailout funding. Germay is likely to be outvoted by other ECB members and therefore will have greater prospective exposure. Watch for the EFSF and the ESM morphing into banks (thereby depressing eventual recoveries) and a rise in the number of euros. The fallout from a likely Greek exit needs to be monitored. We are cutting to ” A+ “

Murdoch is considering breaking News Corp into a growth unit and a value unit.

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Fertilizer shares sprouted Monday after an analyst upgraded CF Industries (CF), Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT) and others on an emerging “win-win” scenario.

Dahlman Rose analyst Charles Neivert said the large corn crop expected this year is already priced in to the fertilizers’ stock prices.

If that large yield occurs, the shares have limited downside, he noted, and should climb with the fall fertilizer application. But if weather or other disruptions make for a smaller harvest than the large planting suggests, then fertilizer shares could climb even higher.

“Either situation produces a positive outcome and that is the time to own the shares,” Neivert wrote.

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“(via Bloomberg):

• *SEIBERT SAYS MERKEL CONCERNED EU SEEKING ‘EASY WAYS’ ON CRISIS
• *MERKEL SAYS ECONOMIC GROWTH MUST BE SUSTAINABLE
• *MERKEL SAYS LIVING BEYOND MEANS LED TO EURO DEBT CRISIS
• *MERKEL SAYS SHARED EURO-AREA DEBT ‘COUNTERPRODUCTIVE’ NOW
• *MERKEL REJECTS JOINT EURO BONDS, JOINT EURO BILLS
• *MERKEL REJECTS JOINT DEPOSIT INSURANCE IF MEANS JOINT LIABILITY”

Cairo (CNN) — Egypt’s military rulers said they won’t reverse their widely deplored constitutional and judicial changes and warned politicians to keep a lid on election-related unrest on Friday.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces issued a stern statement as citizens awaited the results of last week’s run-off election between Ahmed Shafik, the last prime minister to serve under former Egyptian ruler Hosni Mubarak, and Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate. Thousands of those civilians gathered in Tahrir Square, the center of last year’s revolution that led to the toppling of Mubarak.

“We will face anyone who will pose a challenge to the public and private sectors with an iron fist,” SCAF’s statement said.

Military rulers dissolved the lower house of parliament last week, extending their power and sparking accusations of a coup.

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Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) — Taliban militants attacked a hotel near Kabul on Friday and seized dozens of hostages, sparking a fierce gunbattle with Afghan and NATO troops that left 26 people dead, authorities said.

The standoff, which lasted 11 hours, ended with the deaths of all seven militants, police said. The militants killed 15 civilians, a police officer and three security guards, Kabul police Chief Mohammad Ayoub Salangi said.

By the end of the siege, police had rescued all the remaining 50 civilians held hostage in the hotel, according to Salangi.

Earlier, he had said there were five militants but revised the number as more details emerged.

Police said they found burqas in the vehicle the attackers used to bring in explosives to the hotel, an indication that some were dressed as women. A burqa is an outer garment worn by Muslim women to cover their bodies.

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It’s very important, sometimes, to remind N Korea just who it is that can’t grow enough food to sustain their own population…

U.S. and South Korean forces on Friday conducted what they called their largest live-fire military exercise since the end of the Korean War, according to reports from South Korea.

More than 2,000 troops plus fighter jets, helicopters and armor from both nations participated in the hourlong exercise, conducted as about 4,000 spectators looked on, according to a report from Stars and Stripes.

The exercise took place in Pocheon, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) southeast of the Demilitarized Zone that marks the border between North and South Korea.

Enemy territory during the exercise was marked by a large North Korean flag unfurled on a hillside, according to the report. After it was obscured by smoke during the U.S. and South Korean attacks, the North Korean flag was replaced by one from the South to signal victory.

“We train together to ensure we are ready to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our (South Korean) army partners if called upon,” said Lt. Col. Joe Scrocca, a spokesman for the U.S. Army’s 2nd Infantry Division. “We are a more lethal force together than we would ever be separate.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. aircraft carrier George Washington was to lead a large naval drill off South Korea beginning Saturday, according to a report from the Yonhap News Agency. About 8,000 military personnel, along with about 10 ships and submarines, were to participate.

“Throughout the joint military exercises, South Korean and U.S. forces will show off their resolute capabilities,” Yonhap quoted South Korean Navy Brig. Gen. Park Seong-bae as saying.

He warned North Korea not to react in a hostile manner.

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Report: Greek journalists say new Greek fin min has suffered some form of collapse, has been taken to hospital. PM in hospital over detached retina.

down 0.9%

I hear they will allow old pianos and coffee tables to be used as collateral now.

Breaking right now, Aubrey will step down as CEO, but retain role as Chairman.

NEW YORK — Call it compassionate, even political. But … scientific? Several experts say there’s no hard evidence to support the federal government’s declaration this month that 50 kinds of cancer could be caused by exposure to World Trade Center dust.

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US teen survives spear through brain

A US teenager’s survival after a spear was shot through his brain is a miracle, doctors say.

Yasser Lopez, 16, is recovering after he was accidentally hit with a spear gun by a friend during a Florida fishing trip this month.

Medics at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami said the 3ft (90cm) projectile entered his brain over his right eye and went out the back of his head.

He is now out of bed and speaking following a three-hour operation.

Medics said he was awake as he arrived at hospital, and became “agitated”.

After sedating the teenager, part of the stainless steel spear had to be severed with a mechanical cutter so he could fit into the CT scanner.

“Good news for those of you who live outside the U.S. and have been waiting for Amazon to take more of its mobile products outside its home market. Amazon today officially opened itsAppstore to international users — its first move outside the U.S. for  the applications storefront, which launched in the U.S. last year. Developers from the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain are now being invited to submit apps to the store, with others coming to the party in the “near future,” according to a statement from the company — although one URL I’ve just tried,www.amazon.co.uk/appstore, still is not working. The move is another piece in the puzzle that will enable Amazon to begin selling its Kindle Fire tablet in markets outside the U.S.”

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“After seeing Facebook through its initial public offering and concluding his teaching of an undergraduate class at Stanford University this spring, Peter Thiel announced the closure of a funding round on a new investment vehicle.

Late Tuesday in San Francisco, the PayPal cofounder and Facebook’s first professional investorannounced the launch of Mithril Capital Management, a growth-stage venture firm with $402 million under management. Thiel, whose net worth was valued at $1.5 billion by FORBES in March, will serve as chair of the investment committee, which will also feature partners Ajay Royan and Jim O’Neill.”