“Debt is now sustainable.” If there was any statement that would make me pause in a financial sense that would be at the top of the list. For the second time Greece is getting a bailout. 1.4 trillion dollars are being spent to essentially bail out the EU. Does anyone really think this will solve the problems?
Sure, banks and markets get a tasty reprieve. Like the money printing packages in the States I fully expect the markets to go up with this massive amount of cash infusion. As I type this crap, the DOW is up 246 points.
I like to think I am an opportunist. I am wholly bearish on the economy as long as the governments of the world continue to meddle with it. But I will be happy to ride along with the cronies as they get bailed out by the government. Crude is up 3% on the news which makes me happy to be an investor in SLB, HAL and BHI. GDP is inexplicably up 2.5% which makes me happy to be invested in consumer related shit. People can only save money for so long before it starts to burn a hole in their pocket.
Look, I really have little technical understanding about the Euro debt deal. Some banks are saved. Money nobody has is spent. Currency races to the bottom. Cans get kicked down the road. The stock market goes up. And eventually the governments default and collapse anyway.
The bears are going to be crushed again. As long as the stock monkeys believe that the government will protect their market then you have to be a player. There is absolutely no way the central planners are going to let these markets crash. One day they will but not today.
I doubt you would find anyone but the most ardent socialist believing that this Greece bailout will ultimately work. Everyone is happy that the collapse is averted and won’t happen today but the eventuality is that the EU is dead. And when that happens I sure would hate to be a French or German leader. I have a feeling many heads are going to be split on a pike one day.
*****
A driver was stuck in a traffic jam on the highway outside Washington, DC. Nothing was moving. Suddenly, a man knocks on the window.
The driver rolls down the window and asks, “What’s going on?”
“Terrorists have kidnapped Congress, and they’re asking for a $100 million dollar ransom. Otherwise, they are going to douse them all in gasoline and set them on fire. We are going from car to car, collecting donations.”
“How much is everyone giving, on average?” the driver asks.
The man replies, “Roughly a gallon.”
