Day Of Reckoning: The Collapse Of The Too Big To Fail Banks In Europe Is Here - Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE

Day Of Reckoning: The Collapse Of The Too Big To Fail Banks In Europe Is Here

Posted: 08 Feb 2016   Michael Snyder  THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE 

There is so much chaos going on that I don’t even know where to start.  For a very long time I have been warning my readers that a major banking collapse was coming to Europe, and now it is finally unfolding. 

Let’s start with Deutsche Bank.  The stock of the most important bank in the “strongest economy in Europe” plunged another 8 percent on Monday, and it is now hovering just above the all-time record low that was set during the last financial crisis.  Overall, the stock price is now down a staggering 36 percent since 2016 began, and Deutsche Bank credit default swaps are going parabolic.  Of course my readers were alerted to major problems at Deutsche Bank all the way back in September, and now the endgame is playing out. 

In addition to Deutsche Bank, the list of other “too big to fail” banks in Europe that appear to be in very serious trouble includes Commerzbank, Credit Suisse, HSBC and BNP Paribas.  Just about every major bank in Italy could fall on that list as well, and Greek bank stocks lost close to a quarter of their value on Monday alone.  Financial Armageddon has come to Europe, and the entire planet is going to feel the pain.

The collapse of the banks in Europe is dragging down stock prices all over the continent.  At this point, more than one-fifth of all stock market wealth in Europe has already been wiped out since the middle of last year.  That means that we only have four-fifths left.  The following comes from USA Today…

The MSCI Europe index is now down 20.5% from its highest point over the past 12 months, says S&P Global Market Intelligence, placing it in the 20% decline that unofficially defines a bear market.
Europe’s stock implosion makes the U.S.’ sell-off look like child’s play. The U.S.-centric Standard & Poor’s 500 Monday fell another 1.4% – but it’s only down 13% from its high. Some individual European markets are getting hit even harder. The Milan MIB 30, Madrid Ibex 35 and MSCI United Kingdom indexes are off 29%, 23% and 20% from their 52-week highs, respectively as investors fear the worse could be headed for the Old World.

These declines are being primarily driven by the banks.  According to MarketWatch, European banking stocks have fallen for six weeks in a row, and this is the longest streak that we have seen since the heart of the last financial crisis…

The region’s banking gauge, the Stoxx Europe 600 Banks Index FX7, -5.59% has logged six straight weeks of declines, its longest weekly losing stretch since 2008, when banks booked 10 weeks of losses, beginning in May, according to FactSet data.
“The current environment for European banks is very, very bad. Over a full business cycle, I think it’s very questionable whether banks on average are able to cover their cost of equity. And as a result that makes it an unattractive investment for long-term investors,” warned Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank.

Overall, Europe’s banking stocks are down 23 percent year to date and 39 percent since the peak of the market in the middle of last year.

The financial crisis that began during the second half of 2015 is picking up speed over in Europe, and it isn’t just Deutsche Bank that could implode at any moment.  Credit Suisse is the most important bank in Switzerland, and they announced a fourth quarter loss of 5.8 billion dollars.  The stock price has fallen 34 percent year to date, and many are now raising questions about the continued viability of the bank.

Similar scenes are being repeated all over the continent.  On Monday we learned that Russia had just shut down two more major banks, and the collapse of Greek banks has pushed Greek stock prices to a 25 year low…

Greek stocks tumbled on Monday to close nearly eight percent lower, with bank shares losing almost a quarter of their market value amid concerns over the future of government reforms.
The general index on the Athens stock exchange closed down 7.9 percent at 464.23 points — a 25-year-low — while banks suffered a 24.3-percent average drop.

This is what a financial crisis looks like.

Fortunately things are not this bad here in the U.S. quite yet, but we are on the exact same path that they are.

One of the big things that is fueling the banking crisis in Europe is the fact that the too big to fail banks over there have more than 100 billion dollars of exposure to energy sector loans.  This makes European banks even more sensitive to the price of oil than U.S. banks.  The following comes from CNBC…

The four U.S. banks with the highest dollar amount of exposure to energy loans have a capital position 60 percent greater than European banks Deutsche Bank, UBS, Credit Suisse and HSBC, according to CLSA research using a measure called tangible common equity to tangible assets ratio. Or, as Mayo put it, “U.S. banks have more quality capital.”
Analysts at JPMorgan saw the energy loan crisis coming for Europe, and highlighted in early January where investors might get hit.
“[Standard Chartered] and [Deutsche Bank] would be the most sensitive banks to higher default rates in oil and gas,” the analysts wrote in their January report.

There is Deutsche Bank again.

It is funny how they keep coming up.

In the U.S., the collapse of the price of oil is pushing energy company after energy company into bankruptcy.  This has happened 42 times in North America since the beginning of last year so far, and rumors that Chesapeake Energy is heading that direction caused their stock price to plummet a staggering 33 percent on Monday…

Energy stocks continue to tank, with Transocean (RIG) dropping 7% and Baker Hughes (BHI) down nearly 5%. But those losses pale in comparison with Chesapeake Energy (CHK), the energy giant that plummeted as much as 51% amid bankruptcy fears. Chesapeake denied it’s currently planning to file for bankruptcy, but its stock still closed down 33% on the day.

And let’s not forget about the ongoing bursting of the tech bubble that I wrote about yesterday.

On Monday the carnage continued, and this pushed the Nasdaq down to its lowest level in almost 18 months…

Technology shares with lofty valuations, including those of midcap data analytics company Tableau Software Inc and Internet giant Facebook Inc, extended their losses on Monday following a gutting selloff in the previous session.
Shares of cloud services companies such as Splunk Inc and Salesforce.com Inc had also declined sharply on Friday. They fell again on Monday, dragging down the Nasdaq Composite index 2.4 percent to its lowest in nearly 1-1/2 years.

Those that read my articles regularly know that I have been warning this would happen.
All over the world we are witnessing a financial implosion.  As I write this article, the Japanese market has only been open less than an hour and it is already down 747 points.
The next great financial crisis is already here, and right now we are only in the early chapters.

Ultimately what we are facing is going to be far worse than the financial crisis of 2008/2009, and as a result of this great shaking the entire world is going to fundamentally change.

Foreign Journalist (Italian) Gets Real About Israeli-Palestinian Conflict | Aviel Schneider ISRAEL TODAY.

Foreign Journalist (Italian) Gets Real About Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Wednesday, December 16, 2015 |  Aviel Schneider  ISRAEL TODAY.

RELATED STORIES

• Two Israeli pilots killed in helicopter crash
• Israel's African Refugee Crisis
• Gold rush possible in southern Israel

Topics:

Israel

“The Palestinians feel the rising threat of ISIS and understand that despite the [negative feelings toward] the Israeli occupation they are more secure under Israeli rule than anywhere else in the region.”

That was one of the conclusions drawn in the new book “Jihad” by Italian journalist Mourizio Molinari, who for the past 15 years served as a Middle East correspondent. Most recently, Molinari was offered the prestigious position of editor-in-chief for one of the largest circulation Italian newspapers, La Stampa.

In an interview with Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot, Molinari explained how Western understanding of the situation in Israel had become increasingly distorted.

For example, “in the Arab village of Duma, following the tragedy of the Dawabshe family, cries for revenge [against the Israelis] were widely published. But villagers told me that while the Jews were indeed their enemies, they had only killed on average three Palestinians a day, while 100 a day were dying in Syria,” Molinari recounted.

Molinari further noted that in the de facto Palestinian capital of Ramallah, local Palestinian entrepreneurs are eager to find Israeli partners.

Similarly, “Palestinians in Ramallah are trying to get their family members living in Jordan to come to Israel, because they understand that only Israel can guarantee their safety,” said the Italian.

For years, Molinari worked twice a week in Ramallah, and recalled some of the many conversations he had with Palestinians over a meal. “I’ve listened as Palestinians sitting next to me at the table called their grandparents or other relatives in Amman, urging them to come to Ramallah.”

But Molinari spent most of his time in Jerusalem, and described life in Israel as both fascinating and challenging. “The average Israeli you meet on the street is very intelligent,” he said. “And you can sit on a bus alone and speak to a grandma and hear the most exciting life story.”

According to Molinari, a majority of Palestinians would be willing to lay down their arms and live in peace with Israel, “but, just as in Israel, they don’t currently see a way forward toward that goal.”

He believes the threat posed by ISIS is an opportunity for Israelis and Palestinians. “ISIS is a threat to both peoples,” he pointed out. “Before it struck Israel and the Jews, ISIS would first annihilate the Palestinians.”

Want more news from Israel?
Click Here to sign up for our FREE daily email updates from ISRAEL TODAY.

The Stock Markets of the 10 Largest Global Economies Are All Crashing - Michael Snyder (The Economic Collapse Blog)

Since the peak of the market earlier this year, the Dow is down almost three times as much as that 777-point crash back in 2008. (Reuters)

The Stock Markets of the 10 Largest Global Economies Are All Crashing

9/28/2015 MICHAEL SNYDER  charisma news

You would think that the simultaneous crashing of all of the largest stock markets around the world would be very big news. But so far, mainstream media in the United States are treating it like it isn't really a big deal.

Over the last 60 days, we have witnessed the most significant global stock market decline since fall 2008, and yet most people still seem to think that this is just a temporary "bump in the road" and that the bull market will soon resume. Hopefully they are right.

When the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 777 points on Sept. 29, 2008, everyone freaked out, and rightly so. But a stock market crash doesn't have to be limited to a single day. Since the peak of the market earlier this year, the Dow is down almost three times as much as that 777-point crash back in 2008.

Over the last 60 days, we have seen the eighth-largest and 10th-largest single-day stock market crash in U.S. history on a point basis. You would think that this would be enough to wake people up, but most Americans still don't seem very alarmed. And of course what has happened to U.S. stocks so far is quite mild compared to what has been going on in the rest of the world.

Right now, stock market wealth is being wiped out all over the planet, and none of the largest global economies have been exempt from this. The following is a summary of what we have seen in recent days:

1. The United States—The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down more than 2,000 points since the peak of the market. Last month we saw stocks decline by more than 500 points on consecutive trading days for the first time ever, and there has not been this much turmoil in U.S. markets since fall 2008.

2. China—The Shanghai Composite Index has plummeted nearly 40 percent since hitting a peak earlier this year. The Chinese economy is steadily slowing down, and we just learned that China's manufacturing index has hit a 78-month low.

3. Japan—The Nikkei has experienced extremely violent moves recently, and it is now down more than 3000 points from the peak that was hit earlier in 2015. The Japanese economy and the Japanese financial system are both basket cases at this point, and it isn't going to take much to push Japan into a full-blown financial collapse.

4. Germany—Almost one-fourth of the value of German stocks has already been wiped out, and this crash threatens to get much worse. The Volkswagen emissions scandal is making headlines all over the globe, and don't forget to watch for massive trouble at Germany's biggest bank.

5. The United Kingdom—British stocks are down about 16 percent from the peak of the market, and the U.K. economy is definitely on shaky ground.

6. France—French stocks have declined nearly 18 percent, and it has become exceedingly apparent that France is on the exact same path that Greece has already gone down.

7. Brazil—Brazil is the epicenter of the South American financial crisis of 2015. Stocks in Brazil have plunged more than 12,000 points since the peak, and the nation has already officially entered a new recession.

8. Italy—Watch Italy. Italian stocks are already down 15 percent. Look for the Italian economy to make very big headlines in the months ahead.

9. India—Stocks in India have now dropped close to 4,000 points, and analysts are deeply concerned about this major exporting nation as global trade continues to contract.

10. Russia—Even though the price of oil has crashed, Russia is actually doing better than almost everyone else on this list. Russian stocks have fallen by about 10 percent so far, and if the price of oil stays this low, the Russian financial system will continue to suffer.

What we are witnessing now is the continuation of a cycle of financial downturns that has happened every seven years. The following is a summary of how this cycle has played out over the past 50 years:

• It started in 1966 with a 20 percent stock market crash.
• Seven years later, the market lost another 45 percent (1973-74).
• Seven years later was the beginning of the "hard recession" (1980).
• Seven years later was the Black Monday crash of 1987.
• Seven years later was the bond market crash of 1994.
• Seven years later was 9/11 and the 2001 tech bubble collapse.
• Seven years later was the 2008 global financial collapse.
• 2015: What's next?

---

A lot of people were expecting something "big" to happen on Sept. 14, and were disappointed when nothing happened.

But the truth is that it has never been about looking at any one particular day. Over the past 60 days, we have seen extraordinary things happen all over the planet, and yet some people are not even paying attention because their preconceived notions of how events should play out did not come to pass.

And this is just the beginning. We haven't even gotten to the great derivatives crisis that is coming. All of these things are going to take time to fully unfold.

A lot of people who write about "economic collapse" talk about it like it will be some type of "event" that will happen on a day or a week and then we will recover.

Well, that is not what it's going to be like.

You need to be ready to endure a very, very long crisis. The suffering that is coming to this nation is beyond what most of us could even imagine.

Even now we are seeing early signs of it. For instance, the mayor of Los Angeles says that the growth of homelessness in his city has gotten so bad that it is now "an emergency":

On Tuesday, Los Angeles officials announced the city's homelessness problem has become an emergency, and proposed allotting $100 million to help shelter the city's massive and growing indigent population.

LA Mayor Eric Garcetti also issued a directive on Monday evening for the city to free up $13 million to help house the estimated 26,000 people who are living on the city's streets.

According to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the number of encampments and people living in vehicles has increased by 85 percent over the last two years alone.

And in recent years we have seen poverty absolutely explode all over the nation. The "bread lines" of the Great Depression have been replaced with EBT cards, and there is a possibility that a government shutdown in October could "suspend or delay food stamp payments":

A government shutdown Oct. 1 could immediately suspend or delay food stamp payments to some of the 46 million Americans who receive the food aid.

The Agriculture Department said Tuesday that it will stop providing benefits at the beginning of October if Congress does not pass legislation to keep government agencies open.

"If Congress does not act to avert a lapse in appropriations, then USDA will not have the funding necessary for SNAP benefits in October and will be forced to stop providing benefits within the first several days of October," said Catherine Cochran, a spokeswoman for USDA. "Once that occurs, families won't be able to use these benefits at grocery stores to buy the food their families need."

In the U.S. alone, there are tens of millions of people that could not survive without the help of the federal government, and more people are falling out of the middle class every single day.

Our economy is already falling apart all around us, and now another great financial crisis has begun.

When will the "nothing is happening" crowd finally wake up?

Hopefully it will be before they are sitting out on the street begging for spare change to feed their family.

Michael T. Snyder is the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog and author of The Beginning of the End.

For a limited time, we are extending our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Charisma. As a special offer, you can get 40 issues of Charisma magazine for only $40!

NEW - Life in the Spirit is your Spirit-filled teaching guide. Encounter the Holy Spirit, hear God speak to you, and enjoy timeless teachings on love, mercy and forgiveness.LEARN MORE!

Israel Implements Protective Measures for Holy Sites Against Earthquakes

Israel Implements Protective Measures for Holy Sites Against Earthquakes

Posted by: Anav Silverman January 22, 2014

“Your neck is as beautiful as the tower of David, jeweled with the shields of a thousand heroes.” (Song of Songs 4:4)

Tower of David in the Old City of Jerusalem. (Photo: Edo M./ Wiki Commons)

As the tallest structure in the Old City of Jerusalem, the Tower of David is a famous and familiar symbol to residents and tourists who pass through Jerusalem’s Jaffa Gate. The ancient citadel compound contains at least 2,000 years’ worth of history dating back to the First Temple period.

But the symbolic structure, among other historical structures across Israel, have some worried. There are six major cracks in the tower which raises questions if the structure would be able to survive an earthquake. Israel is located in a region extremely prone to earthquakes and a major quake could be devastating.

“A major earthquake poses a serious threat and needs to be treated as such,” Dr. Avi Shapira told Tazpit News Agency. As Chairman of Israel’s National Earthquake Preparedness Committee, Shapira explained that a large earthquake will affect every aspect of life as most Israelis live near active zones. “Israel is a small country – the consequences of a large earthquake will be far reaching.”

Therefore, Shapira believes that Israel has a duty to protect its national heritage sites. “We want to preserve the structures of our past and historical monuments of the Holy Land that are significant to the world.”

Earthquakes occur when a sudden release of energy in the Earth’s crust creates seismic waves, which then travel through the Earth’s layers.

In order to implement proper methods of protection and preparedness for earthquake threats, research and engineering is needed in order to upgrade ancient buildings according to Shapira.

Israel experienced five moderate earthquakes in October, which prompted experts to install a seismic monitoring system at the Tower of David in November 2013.

The Tower of David is the first heritage site that has been included in an international project that is monitoring fluctuations on a heritage site through a special monitoring system run by the University of Padova in Italy. This is the first attempt to use technology to determine the structural weaknesses in an ancient edifice in Israel.

Israel has been consulting with Italian researchers, who are leading experts in the field of earthquake evaluation and monitoring, in order to learn of new ways to minimize damage to cultural heritage sites through available technologies.

In a special conference at the Tower of David this week (January 19-20), called Seismic Risk Preparedness and Mitigation of Archaeological and Historical Sites, Italian experts were present to share their knowledge during unique sessions addressing earthquake monitoring.

Claudio Modena, a Professor of Structural Engineering at the University of Padova, Italy. (Photo: Tazpit News Agency)

Italy, located in a region with considerable seismic activity, has suffered from many major earthquakes in the past fifty years notes Claudio Modena, a Professor of Structural Engineering at the University of Padova. Professor Modena, who has visited Israel on many occasions, lead a session about strengthening existing cultural sites, this past Sunday, January 19.

“Italy is a world leader in the earthquake monitoring field and conducting research in methodology for effective dealing with earthquakes,” explains Professor Modena. “Israel is new to this area and we believe that sharing our knowledge will help maintain historical structures in the event of a major earthquake.”

Modena, who lives in Verona, Italy, has also investigated historical and archaeological sites in Akko, Tzfat, and Beit Shean.

Other experts at the Tower of David conference included representatives from the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage as well as the Ministry of Civil Protection in Italy, and the Firefighters Agency in Emergency Response.

Italian expert Luka Ponticelli (Photo: Tazpit News Agency)

Luka Ponticelli, an Italian fire officer, of the Central Direction for Prevention and Technical Safety in Rome told Tazpit that Italian fire services are trained to deal with the aftereffects of earthquake on historical sites and heritage monuments. “We are the only firemen in the world that are trained in restoring buildings and reducing damages following earthquakes.”

Following the conference at the Tower of David, Israel will continue to promote cooperation with academic institutions and earthquake experts in Italy.

“The Italian experience in dealing with earthquakes is of great help to those of us dealing with this threat in Israel,” said Professor Shapira.

Enjoy this article? Get BIN updates directly to your inbox.*

Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/israel-implements-protective-measures-holy-sites-against-earthquakes/#UJQv97Ay14lZxojv.99

Israel Today - UN Bias Shows in Israel's African Migrant Crisis

UN Bias Shows in Israel's African Migrant Crisis

Wednesday, January 08, 2014 |  Israel Today Staff  

Share on bloggerShare on facebookShare on twitterShare on gmailMore Sharing Services

• Enlarge

Related Stories

• Belgium forbids Israelis to name child 'Jerusalem'
• Venezuela's Hugo Chavez approves construction of 'Israeli village'
• Israeli 'Desert Queens' Traverse the Deserts of China

Topics:

Global

Israel Today reported yesterday on the ongoing demonstrations by thousands of illegal African migrants seeking refugee status in the Jewish state. Though they claim to be asylum seekers, most are in fact looking for jobs and better economic conditions.

In that story, we pointed out how the UN had made itself wholly unhelpful by criticizing Israel even as the latter tried desperately to figure out a solution.

On Wednesday, Israel's leading newspaper, Yediot Ahronot, published a brief expose demonstrating that Israel is by far one of the more humane Western developed nations when it comes to handling illegal migrants.

Britain

Hundreds of thousands of migrants from Italy, Spain, Portugal and Poland have made their way to the UK over the past four years, trying to escape collapsing economies in their home nations.

The UK lets many of these people in, and even allows them to find work. But it refuses to provide any welfare benefits, even though the migrants are paying taxes.

Australia

Australia goes further than many and does grant the label "asylum seeker" to the thousands of migrants who arrive by boat from Indonesia every year. But, that doesn't mean they are allowed in. Australia essentially gives these people two choices: turn around and go home, or be sent to a detention facility on Christmas Island.

Spain

Spain has been begging the European Union for years to help it combat illegal immigration from Africa. Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish cities on the northern tip of Morocco, have been surrounded by a giant fortified and heavily guarded fence to deter those who would try to come by land.

But many still manage to sneak into Spain-proper via the sea. When they are caught, those migrants are immediately expelled with no right to appeal the decision.

Italy

Those caught sneaking into Italy, usually by sea, are taken to detention facilities where Yediot discovered they are physically sanitized using pesticides. Illegal migrants are kept in these facilities until a court can decide if they were truly fleeing oppression, and therefore deserving of asylum, or if they were just seeking jobs. The latter are asked to leave the country.

And that brings us back to Israel's situation.

Crises involving illegal migrants have been plaguing a great many Western nations in recent years. And yet, where is the public UN criticism of the way those nations are handling the matter?

As usual, only when Israel is involved, does the UN view a situation as needing its (typically ineffective) interference.

Want more news from Israel?
Click Here to sign up for our FREE daily email updates