Meltdown Wednesday- Greece At Level 7 Meltdown As Protests Turn Violent; Greek Bond Yields Explode, Again, Set Another New Record; Markets Tumble, But Far From Enough; The U.S. May Have Its Own Fukushima as Ft. Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant Now Emergency Level 4, Situation Spiraling Out of Control; Postal Workers Set To Spy On Neighbors; The Untold Cost of War? $1.2 Trillion; Volcano In Chile, Goes Into High Gear; Fukushima Updates; Much More

Updates

Update 1: Markets are tanking as the rats flee the ship. Expect to see the circuit breakers kick in, followed by the PPT. 

Update 2: Keep an eye on the French and German banks. Their exposure to Greece is absurd.


Update 3: AIB (Allied Irish Bank) just defaulted(!) so that makes two canaries in the coal mine. 

Main Article

In order to understand global finance, we need to understand how a giant supertanker operates. Think of a developed nation's economy, like the U.S. or England, as the vessel itself, fully laden with oil. There is a captain, along with other important crew members who make important decisions on a daily basis. Fully loaded, this supertanker takes a very long time to reach maximum operating speed, and even longer to adjust course. Yes, a simple 90 degree turn to avoid a major storm, for example, usually is planned long in advance and hundreds of miles ahead of the obstacle.

So too, a large complex economy takes years to change its heading, if a storm is ahead. Why the "captains" of this supertanker vessel named, "The U.S. Economy" failed to see action was necessary back in 2003 is beyond anyone's comprehension. Even a change of command has failed to produce the correct results. Now, 8 years after that "point of no return," the consequences of their (in)actions are coming back home to roost - a global economic collapse is upon the entire world.

As we have been warning since, well... as long as this blog has been publishing, Greece is insolvent. Although one could make adjustments to their balance sheet to make it appear "solvent," the fact of the matter is, Greece's wallet has more holes than Lady Gaga's fishnet stockings. It is obvious to everyone with the ability to add and subtract single digits, that Greece can't function as they are. Yet, all of this was not obvious, or simply  ignored by the captains of the global supertankers. We're heading right into the storm - a category 5 hurricane with winds in excess of 250 MPH and ocean swells 900 feet high. Yeah, straight out of a Hollywood movie. Greek bonds have literally exploded (well, we did tell you months ago to keep your eyes on CDS spreads and Greek bond yields). Exactly as predicted two weeks ago, the massive protests would turn ugly. Oh, and keep your Irish eyes on Ireland. Just for fun.

Today, we see that Greece is on the brink of a full revolution; a situation that could indeed cause the entire European Union to disintegrate; the consequences of that occurring, would be the domino to collapse the global economy. Too Big To Fail Banks, meet your long lost brother, Too Big To Fail (But Already Have Failed) Monetary Unions. These could be the last days of the EU as we know it. Guess Hu who won't be so happy?

Greece is experiencing the largest protests to date, and they have turned very violent - fire bombs, tear gas and all. We're getting updates from "Occupied London" and the latest report shows "a lot of people are injured by the brutal attacks of the police." It's on like Donkey Kong. General strikes always are bullish for a nation's GDP, just like a magnitude 9 earthquake, followed by a tsunami and three nuclear reactors going into full meltdown are bullish for the global economy. Has Warren left for his bunker yet? Munich Re is calling.

Speaking of meltdowns, for those of you who have been following this site, you know that the Missouri River has reached critical level and last week we said to keep an eye on the little things like, St. Louis and Ft. Calhoun nuclear power plant. Little things that have no impact on the economy. Now, we get confirmation from several sources that we may have our own Fukushima disaster here in the U.S. Yes, Ft. Calhoun has been upgraded to a level 4 emergency (ironic, since Japan said Fukshima was a level 4 emergency for almost a month after the catastrophe). This should be an early warning to those living in and around Ft. Calhoun and every town on the Missouri River. Arnie Gundersen has said this could go to a Fukushima level disaster very soon. We suggest, if you watch one video today, make this the one.

In another sign that the U.S. is becoming a police state big brother is watching, Postal Service employees are being told to keep a close eye on you. The next time to see Mr. Postman making a delivery, he may also be scouting your home. All in the name of "national security," of course. After all, the Postal Service is already insolvent, might as well, "add that to the bar tab," to pay for over time spying. What's another $1 Billion or so?

Speaking of bar tabs, a new article in the AlterNet news says the real U.S security budget is $1.2 Trillion. Shhhhh! Don't tell anyone.

Another event we are keenly reporting and the main stream media is ignoring is the super volcano in Chile which continues to spew hot ash for thousands of miles. Over 80,000 square miles have been covered in ash, decimating the local economies there (remember, this is bullish for the global economy) and this new video shows ash so deep, you can swim in it - and that is 100 miles away from the volcano. Ok, so this is also another video you must watch. That makes two for the day.

Fukushima: Ok. Here it is. You wanted proof that high levels of radiation are leaking into the sea and that Fukushima is a possible ELE? Radioactive whales found 650 Kilometers from Japan. No commentary necessary.

Once again, Energy News never disappoints with news as this headline supports - "Japanese media blackout of words: MOX, plutonium, and meltdown." The term "coverup" does not describe it.  

Finally, to update you on another scam internet IPO, Pandora shares soared today after the retail suckers investors bit the bait, only to collapse as market makers, banks and other scum ran away with literally hundreds of millions of dollars in instant profit the rats ran for the doors. All in a day's work.  

Thinking Thursday- CNN Poll Shows 48% of Americans Believe Great Depression Is Coming Soon; Wealthy, Get Wealthier; 200,000 Citi Bank Accounts Get Hacked, Citi Admits 1 Month Later; Max Keiser Bank Updates, Show French Bank Cuts ATM Access; Gold Never Gets Old; Nokia Is Crumbling; Japanese Economy In Meltdown; Thousands Flee High Radiation; TEPCO Shares Plummet Another 20%, Worth Toilet Paper; Japan Faces Nuclear Power Shortages as Only 17 of 54 Reactors Operational; IMF Urges Japan To Triple Tax; Much More

Updates
Update 1: Corn is getting popped on the CBOT. Fresh high not seen since 2008. And you thought the food riots in 2008 were bad? 

Main Article
Let's be blunt: all things being constant, the world is descending into chaos. Besides the degenerating and continually expanding threats from Fukushima spewing radioactive particles into the environment (more on that later), the world has been on the financial brink since 2008 and nearly three years later, it's coming unglued. As a recent CNN poll shows, 48% of Americans believe a Great Depression is coming within a year. We're not sure who constitute the other 52%, but the top 5% of the population in terms of wealth, have never been happier. The world's Billionaires list not only increased by an incredible 20%, but those in the Billionaire ranks saw their net worth increase by an astounding $1 Trillion - not to mention, the tens of thousands of banksters who received record bonuses last year and are on track for another booty. From my personal observations, I have never in my life seen more banks than at any other time; Starbucks ain't got nuthin' on banks. 

Max Keiser ran an excellent story two days ago about France's biggest bank cutting ATM card cash access in half (American banks already did this way back in early March) for the week and people are flipping out. Which raises yet another question concerning the necessity of banks: what is the purpose of having money in your bank account if you can't access any amount that you need? Worse still, that money may not be as safe as you think. Citibank (a Too Big To Fail, Too Big To Save tax payer funded bank) is admitting to a serious hacking of 200,000 accounts. Here's the clincher - that incident occurred one month ago, yet they are just  admitting it now. Time for another "personal observation," so follow this line of thought: 1) Many bank checking accounts are now costing you upwards of $20 per month to keep your money stashed in an account 2) that you may or may not have full access to. 3) Typical checking accounts pay 0.00114% interest, which is not even enough to cover the cost of inflation for a single hour, given a very conservative MIT Billion Price Project estimated 10% annual inflation rate. With some savvy mathematicians placing the real inflation rate at 17%+, you can see how keeping money in the bank is a losing proposition. Remember, gold never gets old.

Speaking of old, Nokia is going out of business is looking like Greece's economy, as they reported crumbling sales to Texas Instruments, who in turn warned that next quarter will be a mess. Other than that, everything is radioactive rosy.

Speaking of radioactive rosy, Japan's economy is in a meltdown of nuclear proportions. Of course, readers of this blog knew by March 11th that Japan's economy would go into cold shutdown and that supply chain disruptions were not going to be bullish for anyone. It remains mind boggling that to this day, we haven't seen Mr. Buffet retract any of his bull... bullish statements about Japan's catastrophes being bullish for the global economy, just like we wonder when Ms. Coulter will retract her statements that radiation is healthy. We won't hold our breath like everyone on the West Coast of the U.S. should do to avoid breathing in radioactive particles from Fukushima. By the looks of things, as we predicted, this situation is about to really go full retard. First, we get word that thousands of people are trying to flee the areas in Japan that were declared "safe" by officials but are now detecting high levels of radiation. Then we learn that an incinerator has been spewing radioactive sludge for weeks and that 230,000 becquerels per square meter of radioactive cesium have been detected in school fields(!) All of this explains why TEPCO shares have dropped another 20% from the previous low the day before, to a lower low of $1.85. On Monday we said after TEPCO shares made a new low, that they have at least another 100% to go and after today's drop, they still have another 100% to drop. This is basic math folks. [insert smiley face]

We're sure that some overpaid talking head on CNBS will come out to spin that Japan's nuclear power shortages, which are spreading, are bullish for the economy. An interesting noteworthy comment from this article: "only 17 of Japan's 54 reactors now are operating—merely a third of the country's total nuclear-generating capacity." And Toyota/Honda/Nissan/Sony/Hitachi et al are supposed to operate their factories on what? At the same time, the IMF is urging Japan to raise its sales tax from 5% to 15% in order to pay for this disaster. Uh, what? As we posted back in early March about Greece's financial death spiral, there's no better way to stimulate your economy than taxing the hell out of your people while implementing austerity measures during the worst global financial crisis the world has even seen. And be sure to include skyrocketing energy prices for good measure. That works well.

Whaddayaknow Wednesday- "We Don't Need No Stinkin' Bailout" Portugal Begs, Gets $115 Billion Bailout; Finland Has Last Word On Bailout For Portugal; Oil Prices Fall On Decreased Demand; Japanese Production Decimated 15% In March Alone; Toyota, Honda Both Report 62% Decline; Radiation Found In Shipping Containers In Belgium That Were Shipped March 16th; Fukuwhat?; Much More

It feels good to be right, so today, we will begin with news from the EU, where it is being buried by the main stream media reported that Portugal has been handed a $115 Billion bailout. Well, whaddayaknow?! Of course, they have said for over two months that they Do. Not. Need. A. Bailout. All the while, we have been saying for exactly two months that Portugal will indeed be the very next PIIG to get a bailout. Et voila. 

Hu Who do you believe? According to an article today in Forbes, you can't believe these talking heads. In fact, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Jean-Claude Juncker was quoted as saying, "When it becomes serious, you have to lie." Really now? Gosh! And we believed every word you spoke, like we believed every word about Fukushima... not.

Make sure you read through that article and see how apropos it is to just about everything you are being fed. It's a tell all article, but the drama about Portugal's illegal handout bailout is just getting started. The juiciest parts come from reading through the bailout agreement, like the part where insolvent Greece and Ireland will help fund this bailout (with Hu's who's money?). Ironically, Greece is weeks, if not days away from "restructuring" their own debt so how exactly is this supposed to work? What a circus. Perhaps Mr. Trichet's real name is Barnum or Bailey.

However, we don't think the British citizens will be laughing too hard at the theatrics, because they have been sucked into this giant ponzi scheme circle-jerk bailout by providing the second largest amount of the bailout. Don't think you'll ever see that money again, either. Did we mention what percentage the banksters will be getting? Forgetaboutit. You'd rather not know. Keep your little sheeple mind focused on Osama Bin Dead For Nine Times Laden's death. The good news is, Finland. Yes, good cold Finland has the final say and if their demands aren't met, this bailout won't be so easy to access. We'll see how this plays out by the 13th.

Speaking of Friday the 13th, remember how you heard from the experts on CNBS that the Fukushima catastrophe would somehow be positive for the global economy? Remember that? Well Honda Motors is reporting along with Toyota Motors that their production is down 62% in March. Must be the economic recovery. Another green shoot, Dr. Deficit. We can't wait to see this quarter's results like the radiation readings of a cargo container that just arrived in Belgium showing radioactive cesium 137. Guess when that container was shipped from Japan? The 16th of March. As you know, things have only gotten better since then. In fact, according to TEPCO and the Japanese gov't, Fukushima is back up and producing electricity... or not.

Don't worry about the radiation encircling the globe, entering food and water sources and being detected in soil samples. The EPA won't be monitoring radiation any longer because levels are decreasing. Remember that article in Forbes? Now is a good time to reread it.

With oil demand plunging due to an ongoing economic depression  all of the economic growth we see, it's no wonder jobs are back.

Updates

Update 1: What's another $2 Trillion? Nothing the click of a computer button can't fix. The Treasury is requesting the debt limit be upped by $2 Trillion so they can have enough funding through December 2012. Just in time for the Mayan calendar to end. 

Update 2: Osama Bin Dead Long Time Laden. We've got the confirmation here.