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Insight: Why did Cypriot banks keep buying Greek bonds? - (www.reuters.com) One day last October, a memory stick containing special software for deleting
data was placed into a desktop computer at Bank of Cyprus. Within minutes,
28,000 files were erased, according to investigators who had wanted to copy the
data for an official report into the collapse of the Cypriot banking system. The
deleted files included emails sent and received in a crucial period in late
2009 and early 2010 when Bank of Cyprus, the biggest lender on the island, spent
billions of euros buying Greek bonds - at a time when
international banks were cutting
exposure to the heavily indebted Athens government. Those Greek bonds lost most of
their value in last year's EU-sanctioned bailout, playing a key role in
plunging Cyprus into an economic maelstrom. When banks turned to
Cyprus's own cash-strapped government for help in plugging holes in their
balance sheets, Nicosia too needed an international rescue. Now people in the
small euro zone republic, who have lost money and face years
of grim austerity, want to know who decided to plough their savings into the
doomed public accounts of their bigger neighbor, and why. But answers are
proving elusive, not helped by the mysterious wiping of data at Bank of Cyprus.
Italy Unemployment Rate Remains Close to 20-Year-High Amid
Slump - (www.bloomberg.com) Italy’s unemployment rate remained
near a 20-year high in March as companies refrained from hiring amid political
gridlock and the longest economic recession in two decades. Joblessness was
unchanged at 11.5 percent after the February reading was revised down from an
initial 11.7 percent, the Rome-based national statistics office Istat said in a
preliminary report today. The March rate was lower than the 11.7 percent median of six
estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. Unemployment remained above 10 percent
for a 14th month. The euro region’s third-biggest economy will shrink 1.8
percent this year amid rising unemployment and low consumer and investor
confidence, Mooody’s Investors Service forecast April 26. That compares with
the government’s estimate for a 1.3 percent contraction. The Rome-based
Treasury also projected that joblessness (ITMUURS) will
rise to 11.6 percent from 10.7 percent at the end of 2012. Italy’s newly
appointed Prime Minister Enrico Letta told Italian lawmakers that employment
will be the “top priority” of his government.
Spain sinks deeper into recession in first quarter - (www.reuters.com) Spain fell deeper into recession in the first three months of the year, the seventh straight quarter it has seen its economy shrink, data showed on Tuesday. Rising exports and weaker imports, reported separately, provided some relief by cutting the trade deficit. The data showing further contraction will add to a Europe-wide debate about whether countries should tone down austerity programs intended to cut debt in favor of more growth-focused policies, particularly given concern about rising unemployment. Euro zone member Spain's jobless rate is 27.2 percent. The National Statistics Institute said Spain's gross domestic product contracted - on a preliminary reading - 0.5 percent in the first quarter from the last three months of 2012, mainly because of sliding domestic demand.
Perth
Mint Works Through Weekend as Gold Demand Surges on Price - (www.bloomberg.com) Australia’s Perth Mint, which refines
nearly all of the nation’s bullion, said that demand has jumped to the highest
level in five years after prices plunged, with the factory kept open through
the weekend to meet orders. There’s been strong interest, including from the
U.S., with buyers speculating that the metal will rebound from the decline, Ron
Currie, sales and marketing director, said in a phone interview from Perth. Bullion
plunged 14 percent in the two sessions to April 15, the most since 1983,
spurring buyers to boost physical holdings. Billionaire John Paulson, the biggest investor in the
largest exchange-traded product backed
by bullion, reiterated his bullish view on prices. Coin sales by the U.S. Mint
are set for the highest month since December 2009, while premiums to secure
supplies in India rose to five
times the level before the slump.
Large
down payments provide stability to the housing market - (www.ochousingnews.com) Down payments are the bedrock of the housing market. Large down payments
preserve home ownership, reduce volatility in the market, and reduce the risk
to our financial system. The only people who oppose them are realtors and
originate-to-sell lenders who see down payments as an impediment to profits and
left-wing housing advocates who see down payments as a barrier to putting
unqualified borrowers into houses. Down payments preserve home ownership
because people who’ve put down large down payments rarely default. In purely
economic's terms, people shouldn’t consider sunk costs like down payments in
their decision making. However, homeowners do. People simply don’t walk away
from properties where they’ve put a lot down, even if they’re deeply
underwater. The decision is more emotional than logical, but coupled with the
emotional desire to “own” these two forces prevent most people from strategic
default even when that option is the best available to them.
Another Executive Leaves JPMorgan, Raising Questions as Vote
Nears - (www.nytimes.com)
Even VW Now Feels the Weight of Europe’s Economic Troubles - (www.nytimes.com)
Even VW Now Feels the Weight of Europe’s Economic Troubles - (www.nytimes.com)
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