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SODA- Oppenheimer's report
Good read! She's going to PoP!
http://www.news1.co.il/uploadFiles/759746730327607.pdf
Europe Agrees on New Bailout to Help Greece Avoid Default
By STEPHEN CASTLE
Last Updated: 11:42 PM ET
BRUSSELS — Greece finally secured its second giant bailout early Tuesday after euro zone finance ministers agreed to save it from bankruptcy in exchange for severe austerity measures and subject to strict conditions.
After more than 12 hours of talks, the ministers approved a new bailout of 130 billion euros, or $172 billion, under which private investors in Greek debt will take steep losses to help stave off the country’s imminent default.
“We have reached a far-reaching agreement on Greece’s new program and private-sector involvement,” Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg, announced Tuesday morning.
The agreement could be a new turning point in the European debt crisis, which has raised questions about the viability of the euro itself.
Though the outcome had been expected, the meeting in Brussels proved more grueling than expected as euro zone countries, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund wrestled through the night over a discrepancy in the amount of Greece’s debt to be reduced.
Under the bailout terms, which were not finalized until after 5 a.m. Tuesday, Greece is supposed to reduce its debt to 120 percent of its gross domestic product by 2020, from about 160 percent now. But the steady deterioration of public finances in Athens has left the country’s creditors with problems in making the figures for the new bailout add up. As unemployment has continued to rise and taxes and other revenues have declined, the latest estimates suggest that figure would be closer to 129 percent.
Representatives of private-sector banks that hold Greek bonds were resisting pressure to accept further losses. Other ways of making the numbers add up were to be considered only when the negotiations with the private creditors were close to completion, said one euro zone official who was not authorized to speak publicly. Alternatives include contributions from the European Central Bank to the reduction of Greek debt, or other measures like reducing the interest rate Greece pays for the bailout loans.
Stricter rules on euro zone debt and budget deficits are already in place, and next week European leaders are expected to agree on a new, higher firewall for euro bloc countries that get into financial trouble, a step that policy makers hope will signal the beginning of the end of the crisis.
The talks on Monday were believed to have addressed the firewall issue. A new, permanent fund of 500 billion euros, or $660 billion, called the European Stability Mechanism, is due to come into existence in July, and one way of bolstering its power would be to run it alongside the current, temporary, rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility.
The bailout, with a stronger firewall, could provide the euro zone with some much-needed momentum. The injection of liquidity into the banking sector by the European Central Bank late last year — with the tacit support of Germany — had started to convince critics that there was a determination to save the currency.
Yet only last week the Greek bailout appeared to hang in the balance when rumors circulated that Germany’s finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, was willing to contemplate a Greek default. As tempers flared, the Greek finance minister, Evangelos Venizelos, suggested that some people were trying to drive his country out of the euro zone, and the Greek president, Karolos Papoulias, accused Mr. Schäuble of insulting the country.
It remains unclear whether a default was contemplated seriously or merely floated as a means of pressuring Athens.
Nevertheless, the episode underlines the extent to which Greece remains a weak spot for the 17 European Union countries that use the euro. This would be the second major bailout for Greece in two years. In May 2010, European governments and the International Monetary Fund put together the first three-year bailout package of 110 billion euros, then worth about $146 billion, not all of which has been used.
Doubts persist about Greece’s ability to carry out the tough austerity measures pushed through Parliament or to manage the weakened economy.
Those long-term fears deepened with the leak of an official report that said that if changes were not made, Greek debt could remain at 160 percent of G.D.P. in 2020. It also suggested that more help would be needed after the period covered by the bailout being negotiated. That could amount to $66 billion more from 2015 to 2020, Reuters reported.
As part of its rescue, Greece was also encouraged to accept outside help to improve its administration and, in particular, its tax collection system. The Dutch finance minister, Jan Kees de Jager, said Monday that he supported a permanent presence of the so-called troika — the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund — in Athens to monitor fulfillment of the austerity measures. Late Monday the issue of the special account and extra surveillance of Greece’s reform program were agreed on, said Greek officials speaking on the condition of anonymity as talks continued.
Another issue to be resolved was how much the I.M.F. would contribute to the new rescue, with the figure expected to be less than a third of the bailouts for Ireland and Portugal.
“There are many structural reforms under way,” François Baroin, the French finance minister, said on Europe 1 radio before the meeting. “We can’t wait because of the payment that is due in March,” he added, referring to a $19 billion repayment of Greek debt due on March 20.
According to a draft agreement for the bailout, Greece will make big spending cuts, including reducing pharmaceutical expenditures by more than $1.3 billion in 2012 through increased use of generic medicine, cutting overtime pay for hospital doctors by at least $66 million, saving $396 million in military procurement and saving nearly $40 million by reducing the number of deputy mayors and their staffs.
The 50-page draft agreement also lays out in detail the changes to be made to Greece’s notoriously weak tax collection system.
The second bailout was first promised in October, but agreement has been delayed as international creditors have pressed for more concessions and stricter controls on Greece’s government.
Critics, who suspected that Greece was banking on the euro zone’s desire to avert a default, accused the government of stalling on essential economic measures.
Meanwhile, the government in Athens, led by Prime Minister Lucas D. Papademos, has had to cope with mounting opposition to austerity measures. Mr. Papademos, who attended Monday’s meeting, told ministers that there was enough political backing in Greece to allow the fulfillment of new austerity measures accompanying a second loan deal, an official in his office said.
Mr. Papademos noted that the measures had been voted into law by two-thirds of the country’s Parliament and that the government’s two coalition parties had backed the changes. He added that the majority of Greeks wanted the country to remain in the euro zone.
Even politicians from the triple-A rated countries in Europe seemed ready on Monday to give Greek politicians some credit. In Helsinki, the Finnish finance minister, Jutta Urpilainen, said that Greece had done what had been asked of it, Reuters reported.
Let me know what you think about it. I'm considering getting the Penguin model but haven't bitten the bullet yet...
NEW PRODUCT
CENTROPLEX
Looks like the product launch may include more than just Metabolic Extreme!!
JUST NOW
@CenergyNutri: Centroplex choc is off the chain - taste is unreal ..... tic toc , tic toc ..... till #CENERGY Release !!!!!
$goog
I hope so!
Some are saying its a "chrome tv" type product/service...
Some are saying a big announcement with motorola mobility...
Either one could make the calls I'm holding look a whole lot better than they did today
$goog
Fwiw, just some postings on stocktwits.
I'm looking for verifiable evidence/links as soon as I get back home.
Just wondering if anyone else had heard anything.
It IS confirmed they are holding a presentation at the $GS event.
$GOOG- hearing a lot of rumors about Google releasing/hinting something big tomorrow at the $GS conference.
Some reporting a "chrome tv" type product that competes with $amzn/$nflx
Anyone else heard anything?
Good luck to your son JX!
znga CC: "real money gambling is a very interesting opportunity"
Monthly average user up 37% over previous quarter
"Monthly unique payers up very strongly"
Advertising revenue almost doubled.
Sounds pretty good!
Yea, Congrats and good luck!
I'm listening to the CC now.
Yea, I agree.
Tomorrow PM could be interesting.
I sold all my contracts for a healthy profit except for 5 $15 Feb calls.
I'd like to see it north of $16 tomorrow.
They raised their non-gaap eps guidance for 2012 from .22 to .28.
If online poker is mentioned in CC this thing can still fly. We'll see.
znga- now tanking
bulls or bears?
ZNGA earnings were actually pretty good. I think it goes to around $16 tomorrow.
Congrats on your $$$ trade!
Thank you!
May hedge my position with the $12 puts...
You looking to do anything else headed into the ER?
Thank you!
May hedge my position with the $12 puts...
You looking to do anything else headed into the ER?
Znga squeezing.
Made $600 profit today on the feb $15 calls and still riding 10 of em into earnings.
Znga- She's trying to squeeze right now.
$14.18
No offense, but hope your wrong today. Lol.
ZNGA-ER is today after close
Znga- You playing the earnings?
ZNGA- Consensus is .03 eps
I'm thinking it's going to be closer to .05 eps.
If so, this thing flies bc short interest is high.
Znga $14
If they beat earning I think we see a huge short squeeze.
I'm in on the $15 calls.
21 of em.
BDD
I received the email, as well.
It looks like Keith does want to keep everyone informed and understands the frustration.
I, for one, really appreciate this email and think this is a great sign of things to come.
LBGE !!
VFIN dropped to .006
Everyone else is exactly the same.
We need some good news.
Let's get this thing moving!
LBGE!!
GM all...
I see VFIN is still hanging around.
Hopefully we get some news today!
LBGE
Guess who's back???
What the heck???
LBGE!!
Great job today guys!!!
I need to go to work more often...
Pps has almost doubled since I left.
LBGE!!
Next Tuesday
What's your price target on ZNGA with earnings coming next week?
I've been doing some DD and feel like they blow out the estimates...
I've loaded up the wagon with calls.
And now he's gone...???
Congrats CT!
VFIN just dropped the hammer to the .004...
Congrats on whoever got those!!
Absolute craziness!!
This is nuts!!!
LBGE!
You called it!
They're now at .005 and nite dropped to .0045.
We need news!
LBGE