Traders cheer Cyprus deal … The euro, stocks and crude oil are firmer after Cyprus reached a deal on a €10bn bailout. Money is moving out of supposed havens, pushing the yen and Swiss franc lower, while forcing Treasury yields higher. US index futures suggest Wall Street's S&P 500 will open later in the day with a gain of eight points to 1,566, leaving the benchmark on course for a record closing level – a bull run predicated on an improving US economy coupled with still ultra-accommodative monetary policy. – Financial Times
Dominant Social Theme: Another euro crisis has been averted.
Free-Market Analysis: Things are looking much better now, aren't they? A deal has been struck and Cyprus will stick with the euro, pay its creditors and Russian mobsters that have parked money in Cyprus will be discomfited.
Oil and natural gas that has been found in the waters of Cyprus will be divvied up by the most powerful. Vladimir Putin avoided dragging Russia into the larger mess and investors all over the world learned that even a safe "bolt hole" in the Mediterranean isn't so safe after all.
We use the word "bolt hole" because that is the word this strange article in the Financial Times uses. While much of the article simply reflects relief the latest crisis is "over," there is no doubt that one of the tangential – or maybe not so tangential – reasons for the crisis involved Cyprus' utilization as a tax haven. Here's more from the FT article:
Financial stocks are looking chipper as worries about systemic risk wane. The FTSE Eurofirst banking index is up 1.4 per cent, reflecting gains for Asia-based peers.
Strength in the sector contributed to a bullish mood in Asia-Pacific trading, helping Hong Kong's Hang Seng advance 0.6 per cent and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rise 0.5 per cent.
The standout performer was again Japan, where the Nikkei 225 jumped 1.7 per cent, with extra propulsion coming from the weakening yen, which was off 0.2 per cent to Y94.68 as its perceived haven status waned amid the broader market's more upbeat tone.
Other bolt-holes under pressure include the Swiss franc – down 0.1 per cent versus the euro to SFr1.2220 – and the dollar index, off 0.1 per cent. "Core" sovereign bonds are also out of favour, with US and German 10-year yields rising 3 basis points to 1.96 per cent and 2bp to 1.40 per cent, respectively.
Is the use of the word "bolt hole" a coincidence? The idea here is that the Cyprus crisis was apparently aimed in part at Russian money-criminals and at ensuring that Cyrpus ceased to be a haven for hot money.
We always read these analyses and always have the same reaction: They don't dig deeply enough. It is a bedrock dominant social theme that the West is actuated by a lust for treasure and commodities – and that this greed is the proximate causation for conflict around the world.
The corollary to this is that Russia and China stand united in opposition to the Western world much as the USSR did 25 years ago. The world is again Balkanized and England and the United States must stand united against the forces of darkness and despair
These memes walk hand-in-hand with the idea that Germany is the single most powerful force behind the European Union. All three of these propositions are correct so far as they go, but do not go deeply enough.
As we've been trying to point out for years, invading foreign countries for oil, gas and other resources doesn't make much sense when the same resources are available in the US, England, etc., on or off shore.
Second, the West – as Internet information has shown us – funded the Russian Revolution while China was basically run by England for over 100 years in the modern era.
Third, Germany has been invaded twice and its culture and populace crushed by Britain and the US – again in the modern era.
We are being asked to believe, as usual, that a "great game" is afoot. If there is only one SINGLE THING that this modest alternative media effort could do to make a contribution to the larger analytical conversation – from a staff report perspective anyway – it would be to remind viewers that globalists work on numerous levels.
Money Power itself is mysterious and its channels run deep. At root, world government is apparently the goal and thus other explanations for what's occurring ought to be looked at skeptically or even with significant distrust.
At the very top, the world is probably closer to One than we know – and we make a mistake in analyzing current events in ways that do not recognize it.
