Draghi turns tables on eurozone leaders (FT)
Mario Draghi has turned the tables on eurozone leaders by demanding they implement urgently measures to combat the escalating debt crisis, and warned of massive economic and social costs if instead the European Central Bank’s credibility was put at stake. In an uncompromising message, the new ECB president said “robust” economic governance of the eurozone was essential for financial stability and criticised the delay in deploying the European Union’s bail-out fund, the European Financial Stability Facility – originally launched 18 months ago.
ECB Backs $27 Billion Weekly Limit on Government Bond Purchases, FAZ Says (Bloomberg)
European Central Bank governing council members have agreed on a 20 billion-euro ($27 billion) weekly upper limit for sovereign debt purchases as resistance among members grows, the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported. The ECB council meets every other week to decide on an upper limit for bond purchases used to stem rising yields as the European debt crisis widens, the newspaper reported, without saying where it obtained the information. Members met again late yesterday to discuss lowering the level, FAZ said.
European Rift on Bank’s Role in Debt Relief (NYT)
Only the fiercely conservative stewards of the European Central Bank have the firepower to intervene aggressively in the markets with essentially unlimited resources. But the bank itself, and its most important member state, Germany, have steadfastly resisted letting it take up the mantle of lender of last resort. European politicians and analysts say that unbending stance now threatens the survival of the euro and the broader integration of Europe itself.
Fund Transfers Are Focus of MF Global Probe (WSJ)
Regulators have unearthed new details indicating MF Global Holdings Ltd. shifted hundreds of millions of dollars in customer funds to its own brokerage accounts in the days before its bankruptcy filing, according to people familiar with the matter. Such moves could violate regulations stipulating that commodities brokers can’t mix customer funds with brokerage funds. Brokerage funds often are used to back proprietary trading positions. According to MF Global’s internal records, the transactions were as large as hundreds of millions of dollars at a time, these people said.
Gillian Tett: Greek bond losses put role of CDS in doubt (FT)
These days, it is becoming less clear whether those sovereign CDS contracts really offer effective “insurance” against default. And that in turn raises a more unnerving question: if the exposures of the large European banks were measured in gross, not net, terms, just how much more vulnerable might they be to sovereign shocks? Or, to put it another way, could the problems now hanging over eurozone banks and bond markets be about to get worse, due to the state of the sovereign CDS sector?
Protester Brandon Watts, who was first to pitch a tent at Zuccotti Park, is now the bloody face of ‘Day of Action’ (NYDN)
Soon after protesters started pitching tents, a gal pal of Watts’ told the New York Times Magazine he lost his virginity at the encampment. “Brandon lost his virginity today — not to me,” Core Jones, 20, told the magazine on Oct. 23. “I don’t know who the girl is. But I want to have a party for him.” On Thursday, Watts stood atop a wall inside Zuccotti Park and tossed objects — including a AAA battery — at cops standing outside the barricade along Liberty St., police said. Suddenly, the 6-foot-1, 160-pound Watts charged the officers and snatched a hat off the head of a deputy inspector, cops said. Cops caught him as he ran back into the park, but he began to fight back, police said. He was wrestled to the ground and busted his head on the concrete, causing a gash to gush blood down his face.
Tax Spat Stymies Debt Panel (WSJ)
Republicans are digging in against any agreement that does not extend current income-tax rates, which are scheduled to expire at the end of 2012. Democrats want them extended only for lower- and middle-income Americans, holding out for higher rates on families with taxable income over $250,000 a year. If any agreement is to be reached on cutting the deficit by next Wednesday’s deadline, this impasse must be resolved.
Papademos Wins Cabinet Approval for Greek Budget Calling for 5.4% Deficit (Bloomberg)
The fiscal plan, which will be approved by the Greek Parliament before a meeting of European Union leaders in December, is designed to regain the confidence of creditors and secure resumption of international financing. Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, appointed last week, is racing against a three- month deadline until elections to secure international loans and avert a collapse of the economy.
NYSE and Deutsche Borse Offer Deal Concessions (DealBook)
Deutsche Börse and NYSE Euronext announced plans Friday to divest businesses in Europe and open up other operations to rivals, in an effort to win regulatory approval for their proposed $9 billion merger. NYSE Euronext said it would sell its pan-European single equity derivatives units, except the options businesses in its home markets. Deutsche Börse also said it would divest similar operations. The companies added they would give rivals access to Eurex Clearing, a clearinghouse for derivatives products, to offset regulatory concerns that the pending merger would lead to uncompetitive practices.
BlackRock’s Fink Attacks Societe Generale in Row Over ETF Risks (Bloomberg)
So-called synthetic ETFs, offered by firms including Societe Generale’s Lyxor Asset Management and Deutsche Bank AG, introduce a layer of complexity and counterparty risk that investors may not be aware of, Fink said yesterday. Synthetic funds generate returns through derivatives contracts rather than owning underlying securities as traditional ETFs do. “If you buy a Lyxor product, you’re an unsecured creditor of SocGen,” Fink, who heads the world’s largest asset manager, said at a conference held in New York by Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch unit. Providers of synthetic ETFs should “tell the investor what they actually are. You’re getting a swap. You’re counterparty to the issuer.”
Occupy London Protestors ‘Repossess’ UBS Building (CNBC)
Occupy London Stock Exchange demonstrators announced on Friday they had “repossessed” a building belonging to Swiss investment bank UBS in Hackney East London. The direct action saw a dozen activists from the Occupy London campaign gain access to the empty building on Thursday evening as part of what they called the global fight for real democracy. The demonstrators said doing so gave them a legal right to the building, which a spokesperson for the bank confirmed to CNCB.com was unoccupied.
Man pleads guilty to penis pump Medicare scam (AP)
An Illinois man pleaded guilty in Rhode Island on Thursday to charges he shipped unwanted penis enlargers to diabetes patients as part of a Medicare fraud scheme that cost $1 million to $2.5 million from 2005 to 2009. … Diabetes patients were sent the penis enlargers repackaged in clear plastic bags with an information sheet claiming “regular use” increases blood flow in the urinary tract and prostate. Winner then charged Medicare $284 each for a total of $370,305, authorities said.
kid's a real gunner.
Charged with assualt and grand larceny (of a cop)?? They're definitely going to have a party for him in prison when he loses his backdoor virginity, too.
Brandon pitched a tent alright. Losing your virginity at 20 years old to some random skank in Zuccotti Park is the NKI. Maybe it was the Empathy Table lady. Bess, we need an update on her!
I think OWS needs a rally to restore sanity and or fear…
Waiting until you're in your 20's to lose your virginity to a 40 year old smelly hippie from Florida is the NKI
-Not Rami but a fan of Stacey's work
Throwing things at cops and stealing their hats may seem like great fun at the time. But it usually ends with an acute case of concrete poisoning.
"Stacey Hessler, 38, was lifted off the pavement in the center of Broad Street by three cops who slapped plastic bracelets on her wrists and dragged her away kicking and screaming."
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/runa...
Sheesh, all I got was an "It's okay, it happens" after my first time.
- 15-year old version of myself
For some inexplicable reason I actually feel bad for that kid. There's just so much cluelessness in one person, I find it hard to be critical.
Or giant dog latched onto your arm poisoning.
That's what I love about these protests, man. I get older, they stay the same age. Say man, you got a joint? Cause It'd be a lot cooler if you did.
I welcome you to come visit Greece.
Spiros Papademipouloskyriakosdemos
Brandon Watts is an anti-imperalism martyr.
- Mahmoud Ahmedinejad
tebow our lord and savior
c'mon, it was only a AAA battery, not a C or D.
i'm sure the NYPD stuck him in the special Abner Louima cell at central booking, and he wont be throwing anything at them for a long time
I am wondering if Stacey was mad that Brandon stole her last pair of AAA batteries?
she looks just like the girl drummer for Kid Rock http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php...
How many NY cops does it take to smash a smelly hippie's head on the sidewalk? None – he fell – repeatedly. That's gonna leave a mark.
FTA: "…including a AAA battery…"
A implies one, not a pair!
After reading some of these posts I'm getting the idea that one's "first time" actually involves having a partner?
Arnie got banged up in Zuccotti park too. "Here, I will fill your wallstreet pockets with my fists"
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=arnie+banged+up+...
Tebow reads Twilight.
Hey!!
-Sven Kvernuultegennquistikullenlorchvenistikavernennhulta
North Dakota Oil Traders Association
6'1" 160#? Hell, I curl that.
–Charlie Gasparino
YES!!!!!
The kid may have a iron deficiency. He should get a hemocrit.
–Guy who's been to two yrs of med school and dropped out but is pretty sure real blood is darker than that
Trust me, it happens
- Jerry Sandusky
Guest,
Stacey's work includes a nasty rash on my shit stained dick. Be careful.
-Rami
Actually, without even examining the battery in question, we believe it was AA.
-Standard & Poors
It was probably diluted by all the dried semen in his hair. But what do I know?
99% sure this guy may be pre-occupied by his bash in head
I wouldn't fuck him, I wanted a NYC banker-type
–Core Jones
Ordering some insulin and syringes but getting a penis pump instead, where's the crime here?
-65 yr old with diabetes but now 8 inches of dangling fury
Let's hope they hit an artery…
- Banker reject from a family of doctors
That kid really needs a shower.
-J. Sandusky
Tell the protestors. Be unruly.. how about staying at rikers indefinitely? occupy that!
that is just great) thank you!
Looks like someone could use a hug.
first time sex > battery throwing > hat stealing > concrete kissing > ??? > profit
Unfortunately, when he gets together with the 72 virgins in heaven, it'll be like the blind leading the blind.
That's pretty hardcore.
- L. Flynt
"She didn’t quite change the world during her visit to New York, but she did make some new friends, including her 30-year-old male tarp-mate — whom she has insisted is just a pal."
"Just a pal." You should see all of the "empathy" I get; sorry Curtiss.
Any one seen this video of a wall streeter using his version of the people's mic?
http://gothamist.com/2011/11/18/video_drunken_bus...
May I suggest using a nightstick, officer.
-Billy Ray Valentine
What's that all over his face? Yum.
- Edward Cullen
Guy needs a shower at Penn State or Syracuse.
You know how I know you are gay?
Genius.