Italy

15 Flashpoints Which Could Produce A “Perfect Storm” During The 2nd Half Of 2018

Events are beginning to greatly accelerate, and many believe that the ingredients for a “perfect storm” are starting to come together as we enter the second half of 2018. Other than the continual drama surrounding the Trump presidency, things have been quite calm for the past couple of years. We have been enjoying a time of peace, safety and relative economic prosperity that a lot of Americans have begun to take for granted. But great trouble has been brewing under the surface, and many are wondering if we are about to reach a major turning point. Our planet is being shaken physically, emotionally and financially, and it isn’t going to take much to push us over the edge. The following are 15 flashpoints which could create world changing events during the 2nd half of 2018… (Read More...)

A Run On The Banks Begins In Italy As Italian Banking Stocks Collapse

Italy Banner - Public DomainThe Italian financial meltdown that we have been waiting for has finally arrived. For quite a long time I have been warning my readers to watch Italy, and now people are starting to understand why. Italian banking stocks continued their collapse for a fifth consecutive day on Wednesday, and nervous Italians are beginning to quietly pull large amounts of money out of the banks. In particular, Monte dei Paschi is a complete and utter basket case at this point. A staggering one-third of their loans are “non-performing”, and the stock price has fallen a staggering 57 percent since 2016 began. Monte dei Paschi is going to need a major bailout, and the same thing could be said about almost all of the largest Italian banks. But where is the money going to come from? (Read More...)

Is This The Beginning Of A Horrifying Stock Market Crash In Europe?

Is This The Beginning Of A Stock Market Crash In Europe?Are we witnessing the start of a historic financial meltdown in Europe?  In recent days, two massive corruption scandals have greatly shaken confidence in European financial markets.  The first involves Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.  It is being alleged that he has been receiving illegal cash payments, and the calls for his resignation grow louder with each passing day.  The second is a derivatives scandal at the third largest bank in Italy.  Allegedly, there were some very large unreported derivatives deals that were supposed to help hide losses at the bank, but instead they actually made the losses much larger.  The investigation that is looking into this derivatives scandal is starting to spread to other banks, and nobody is quite sure how far down the rabbit hole this thing goes.  But what everyone does agree on is that this derivatives scandal has shaken up Italian politics, and the outcome of the upcoming election is now very uncertain.  Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is rapidly rising in the polls, and the European establishment is less than thrilled about that.  Meanwhile, stock indexes all over Europe fell rapidly on Monday, and even the Dow was down 129 points.  So will all this blow over in a few days, or is this the beginning of a full-blown stock market crash in Europe? (Read More...)

Down Goes Britain: The UK Economy Tumbles Deep Into Recession

The economic crisis that is sweeping Europe is starting to hit Britain really hard.  Over the last couple of years economists have been warning that we can’t let the “contagion” spread from troubled nations such as Greece and Portugal to the rest of Europe.  Well, it is too late for that now.  Spain and Italy are coming apart at the seams at this point, and even “stronger” nations such as the UK and France appear to be deeply troubled.  According to numbers that were released just this week, the UK economy has now contracted for three quarters in a row.  During the second quarter of 2012, the UK economy shrunk by 0.7 percent.  That was a much larger contraction than the 0.2 percent contraction that economists were forecasting.  At this point we have got a definite trend going.  During the fourth quarter of 2011, the UK economy shrunk by 0.4 percent.  During the first quarter of 2012, the UK economy shrunk by 0.3 percent.  And now in this latest quarter the contraction of the UK economy appears to be accelerating.  This economic downturn in the UK is being called “the longest double-dip recession for more than 50 years“.  So will Britain soon look like Greece and Spain and Italy or will it be able to pull out of this nosedive in time? (Read More...)

1 Through 30 – The Coming U.S. Financial Crisis By The Numbers

The United States is drowning in a sea of red ink from coast to coast and most Americans have absolutely no idea what is about to happen.  Hopefully you have started to prepare for the coming U.S. financial crisis.  If not, hopefully this article will be a wake up call for you.  Right now, governments all over Europe are on the verge of financial implosion.  Most Americans aren’t paying much attention to that, but they should be, because what is happening to Greece and Italy right now will eventually be happening here.  Just recently, the U.S. national debt passed the 15 trillion dollar mark.  State and local government debt is also at record levels.  Tens of millions of American families are in debt up to their eyeballs, and millions more Americans fell into poverty last year.  Meanwhile, the “too big to fail” banks just keep getting larger and the Federal Reserve continues to inflate the debt bubble.  At some point this debt bubble is going to burst, and when it does it is going to unleash financial hell all over America. (Read More...)