A bizarre interview that Bannon gave to the liberal magazine the American Prospect – in which he claimed there was no military solution for North Korea, called the far right a “collection of clowns”, and said the left’s focus on racism would allow him to “crush the Democrats” – may have altered the balance of the power inside the West Wing. For an aide long suspected of leaking freely about rivals, Bannon’s excuse that he thought the call was off the record was not helpful.  Bannon’s departure leaves a major void in the White House, depriving it of a man once seen as Cardinal Richelieu in cargo pants, an unkempt schemer adept at manipulating the president, who was famously depicted as a childlike naif to his aide’s Grim Reaper in a Saturday Night Live sketch. The characterization – summed up in a Time magazine cover that hailed “the great manipulator” – reportedly annoyed the famously thin-skinned president and contributed to his fall from grace.  Josh Green, the author of the book Devil’s Bargain about Bannon and Trump, told the Guardian: “Bannon may be the only person in the White House with clear and distinct politics of his own.”  His absence means more power and influence for figures such as Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and the national economic council chair, Gary Cohn, who have few, if any, ideological ties to the Republican party and the conservative movement.   Bannon has long occupied an unusual position in the White House. In an administration that one outside ally compared to Baskin Robbins, “composed of 31 flavors,” Bannon represented “the nationalist Trump coalition” as opposed to “a lot of people that were not only not Trump supporters but anti-Trump people”.  One Bannon ally told the Guardian that the West Wing had seen a “four-on-one fight” recently, with Bannon taking on a coalition of Kushner, Ivanka Trump, Cohn and national security adviser HR McMaster. In the ally’s eyes Bannon represented the populist “burn it all down” path while others in the administration wanted Trump to “move the center” and work with the establishment.  A White House source claimed to Axios: “His departure may seem turbulent in the media, but inside it will be very smooth. He has no projects or responsibilities to hand off.”  Bannon had also stood out as the lone White House staffer to defend Trump’s comments on Charlottesville in recent days.

Banca italiană "Monte dei Paschi di Siena" va scoate la vânzare noi acţiuni în perioada 19-22 decembrie, într-o ultimă încercare de a-şi majora capitalul în acest an cu 5 miliarde de euro şi a evita în acest fel solicitarea unui ajutor din partea statului, transmite Reuters. "Monte dei Paschi" a anunţat că oferta adresată investitorilor instituţionali, care reprezintă 65% din total, se va încheia joi. Oferta rezervată acţionarilor actuali şi persoanelor fizice va avea loc până miercuri.  În încercarea de a atrage fonduri, "Monte dei Paschi" a prelungit o ofertă de schimb voluntar de obligaţiuni cu acţiuni, adresată investitorilor care deţin obligaţiuni junior ale băncii în valoare de 2,1 miliarde de euro. Oferta are loc în intervalul 16-21 decembrie. Guvernul italian este pregătit să susţină a treia mare bancă din ţară, dacă planul de atragere de fonduri nu va funcţiona. Potrivit noilor reglementări adoptate de Uniunea Europeană după criza financiară, investitorii într-o bancă cu probleme trebuie să suporte primii pierderile, înainte ca guvernul să intervină cu fonduri publice. O sursă apropiată situaţiei a declarat vineri că salvarea de către stat a "Monte dei Paschi" implică mai întâi conversia obligatorie în acţiuni a unor obligaţiuni subordonate în valoare de 4,1 miliarde de euro. 

Reuters writes that the 2 billion Euros "investment" needs to be approved by the European Commission, which needs to check whether the transaction occurs at the market price or if it represents a state aid. Shortly after, a report appeared in Italian daily La Stampa, where it is state that the authorities in Rome have asked for a 15 billion Euros financial aid from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) to prop up Italy's banking system. Shares of Italian banks rose significantly following the news, with Monte dei Paschi, being the best "performer", with a rise of about 10%. "No request for the ESM is being prepared", a spokesperson of the Italian treasury said, according to Financial Times.  With the resignation of the government led by Matteo Renzi, who has announced on his Twitter account that the budget law has been approved, Italy's "Aeneid" in the Eurozone enters a new stage and nobody knows when the country is going to turn that corner.  As for Greece's "Odyssey", Bloomberg asks whether the plan to cut the debt burden isn't too small and applied too late, reminding that the IMF sees the fiscal targets as unrealistic and the debt as far too big. Right now all we have to do is wait, even though we probably won't have to wait as many years as have passed since the aggravated phase of the sovereign debt in Europe, to find out whether Greece and Italy will "kick the bucket" once they "turn that corner". 

The annual inflation rate in the Eurozone has remained stable in August compared to July, at 0.2%, according to a preliminary estimate published on Wednesday by the European Statistics Office (Eurostat).  According to Eurostat, in the month of August, the most significant price increases were seem in food, alcohol and cigarettes, which have posted an annual increase of 1.3%, compared to 1.4% in July, followed by services, which have seen an annual increase of 1.1%, compared to 1.2% seen in July. On the other hand, energy prices have seen an annual decrease of 5.7% in August, compared to a decline of 6.7% seen in July.  Eurostat had previously announced that in July, compared to June 2016, annual inflation dropped in nine EU member countries, has remained stable in seven countries and has increased in 12 states, including Romania, according to Agerpres.  Eurostat has also announced on Wednesday that in July 2016, compared to June 2016, the unemployment rate has remained stable at 10.1% in the Eurozone, while in the European Union the unemployment rate has remained stable at 8.6%. Among the member states, the highest unemployment rates were seen in Greece, (23.5% in May 2016) and Spain (19.6%). On the opposite is Malta, with an unemployment rate of 3.9%, Czech Republic and Germany, both with 4.2%. Romania is below the EU average, with an unemployment rate of 6.1%. Compared to the situation in July 2015, the unemployment rate decreased in 24 member states, including Romania, has remained stable in Denmark and has increased in Estonia, Austria and Belgium.  In Romania's case, according to data notified by the National Statistics Institute, (INS), the annual inflation has remained in negative territory in July as well, at -0.8%, down from -0.7% in June. Calculated based on the harmonized consumer price index, the drop has been -0.3%, the INS states. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate also stood at 6.1%, at the end of July, up 0.1 percentage points over the previous month (6%), according to the standards of the International Labor Bureau. 

List of stocks that have been upgraded by Merril Lynch

1. Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) to a buy from neutral, with a price target of $21, which is higher than the $18 consensus of various analysts. The new target price implies a gain of more than 33% from the current price of $15.7.

2. Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE: NE) from underweight to neutral. However, the target price of the stock is unchanged at $7.5, which is below the consensus target price of $8. The stock closed at $6.39 hitting a new multi-year low.

3. Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: PTEN) to neutral from underperform. The new target price on the stock is $22, whereas the consensus target price is also the same. The stock closed at $19.96.

4. Sasol LTD. (NYSE: SSL) to a buy from an earlier rating of neutral. While the consensus target price of the stock is $32.09, the stock closed the day at $27.71.

5. Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) makes it to the US 1 list of top ideas for Merrill.

Notwithstanding, the valuations of the energy sector at 40 times its forward price-to-earnings (P/E) is more than double to the S&P 500’s forward P/E of 17, according to Yardeni Research.

Though the Merrill Lynch report agrees that “energy looks expensive on depressed earnings,” they believe that “higher oil prices should drive higher earnings estimates. Investors are still underweight the sector and the sector’s weight in the S&P 500 has fallen to historically bullish levels”.

Obama: support democratically elected government

The White House has just released a statement on the reports of an attempted coup, saying that Barack Obama and secretary of state John Kerry “agreed that all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected Government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed”.
The state department will “continue to focus on the safety and security of US citizens in Turkey,” the statement added.

The bankruptcy of the EU was triggered by the bankruptcy of Deutschebank, the largest bank in Europe, according to members of the Rothschild banking dynasty. Deutschebank is now under Chinese control, they say. If the Chinese had not stepped in to save Deutschebank, its collapse would have triggered a domino effect that would have taken down the entire European and then Western banking systems, multiple sources agree.  There was also a secret dimension to this bankruptcy that can be traced to military activity in the Pacific Ocean. A massive joint Chinese and American fleet was engaged in “maneuvers” last week off the shores of the Philippines.  You can also confirm on the Pentagon official homepage that massive joint exercises involving naval forces from 27 nations, including China and the US, start near Hawaii on June 30th.

http://www.defense.gov/News-Article-View/Article/799099/rim-of-the-pacific-exercise-2016-begins-june-30.  The real aim of last week’s maneuvers, according to WDS sources, was to cut off gold smuggling by submarines out of the Khazarian mafia submarine base in Nabire, Indonesia....

The result of this maneuver is that the Freeport McMoRan gold mine located near the submarine base has suddenly been put up for sale for the price of $20 billion, according to CIA sources based in Indonesia. Members of the board of directors of Freeport McMorRan have included such characters as Henry Kissinger and Godfrey Stillman Rockefeller.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeport-McMoRan . The CIA sources say the Freeport McMoRan mine is being offered to the Chinese via a front company out of Australia. This is how Indonesia hopes to pay off $20-30 billion that was advanced to it by the Chinese last year, they say. However, they add, “The US side knows that they are selling a virtually empty hole.”  Meanwhile the previous owners of Freeport “will move to another mountain which is within 5-7 miles from the Grasberg mine, which is Freeport’s current mining area. Someone is getting the shaft in this deal… No pun intended.” The source said he thought the massive joint naval exercise was “just a cover.”

 The Chinese need to remember that “Kissinger has been a 50% owner of Freeport since the reign of Suharto, when he was given the shares in exchange for other services and profitable joint ventures between Suharto and the Kissinger Boys…..ie; the Cabal [Khazarian mafia].”

At least two explosions and gunfire have rocked Istanbul's Ataturk international airport, with reports of "multiple" people injured.  Gunfire was directed from an airport car park, according to a witness quoted by Reuters news agency.  Taxis were ferrying wounded people from the airport, the witness added.  In December, a blast on the tarmac at a different Istanbul airport, Sabiha Gokcen, killed a cleaner.  Recent bomb attacks in Turkey have been linked to Kurdish separatists or the Islamic State group.

A US State Department travel warning for Turkey, originally published in March and updated on Monday, urges US citizens to "exercise heightened vigilance and caution when visiting public access areas, especially those heavily frequented by tourists."

Here is a longer extract from Nigel Farage's controversial 'victory' speech:  "If the predications now are right this will be a victory for real people, a victory for ordinary people, a victory for decent people. We have fought against the multinationals, against the big merchant banks, against big politics, against lies against lies, corruption and deceit and today honesty and decency and belief in nation I think now is going to win.  We will have done it without having to fight, without a single bullet having been fired.  I hope this victory brings down this failed projects and brings us to a Europe of sovereign nation states trading together.  Let June the 23rd go down in our history as our independence day."

Before referendum campaigning paused following the tragic murder of Jo Cox, there was growing disbelief among leading Remainers – the careerists, the big businessmen, the Bilderbergers, the Davos groupies and that tragic subset of my own trade that sees the journalist’s job as being to propitiate the governing elite – that polls should show a consistent lead for the Leave camp. It is disbelief born of their almost complete detachment from the realities of life outside London’s more exclusive postal districts. In their blissfully ignorant private world, they applaud each other’s existences, praise each other’s insights, and rejoice in their smug membership of an elite in which they feel safe because its ways are beyond democratic will: until now. As their presumptions and assumptions have been assaulted and undermined they have flailed about in panic: witness the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with a straight face and to the embarrassment even of his supporters, promising an austerity budget to punish the nation should it vote Leave – even though he must have known a combination of his own MPs, the SNP and Labour would never allow such a measure through parliament...In the real world, as some politicians have belatedly recognized, people want change. They dislike being told that the United Kingdom cannot run itself. They deplore doomsayers who have lost faith in their country. They are angry that their country’s borders are open not just to geniuses with PhDs, nurses, teachers, plumbers, electricians and others who can contribute to it, but to welfare tourists, pickpockets, rapists and murderers. They resent a foreign power overruling their courts and their elected government. They are frustrated at being unable to change key policies when they vote. They detest contributing £8.5 billion a year net for Brussels to spend in countries less efficient, less productive and more corrupt than ours. They have had enough, above all, of being told that unless the UK concedes in perpetuity to foreign rule it will be worthless, and face ruin, danger and unremitting failure.

 

Delegates from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Montenegro, Netherlands, Spain, Romania and the United Kingdom descended on Barcelona on the 26th of May for the 2nd edition of the Euromat Gaming Summit.  The international audience were treated to insights from some of Europe's leading operators as well as a panel discussion with regulators from Spain, Italy, Belgium and the European Commission. Commenting on the event, Eduardo Antoja, President of Euromat said: "My main conclusion from today's panel discussions is that land-based gaming continues to be the bigger segment of the gaming industry, representing almost 70% of players' expenditure. It will continue to be the first choice for many years provided that regulation keeps pace with technological, social and economic reality. Today Euromat confirmed that it's not just a great representative body for our industry, it's a think tank for our sector". Euromat confirmed that the next edition of the Euromat Gaming Summit will take place in Berlin, Germany in 2017.

Leaving the EU and joining EFTA would make us more, rather than less, influential. We have only a small share of the votes in Brussels and can thus easily be outvoted. But Norway, which has technically no votes, has regularly moulded key rules, including the Consumer Rights Directive. The real reason why we – as a large and powerful economy – would have greater influence in EFTA than in the EU is that Brussels is increasingly not the place where big decisions take place. Rules are increasingly negotiated under the auspices of global bodies: automotive norms are determined by the World Forum for the Harmonisation of Vehicle Regulations; food standards are determined by Codex Alimentarius; naval rules are under the aegis of the International Maritime Organisation; and the crucial new banking regulations are being determined by the Financial Stability Board. These regulations are then passed down, with the odd gold-plating, by the EU. These global bodies proceed by consensus, not qualified majority; we are currently represented by the EU at these meetings. A Brexit would allow us to have a seat at these top tables, and thus to disintermediate Brussels. We would also be able to sign free trade deals with countries such as China: the EU has proved incompetent at this task, partly because it needs the agreement of all 28 members. Norway has been far more successful; we would be even more so.

 Billionaire George Soros has cut his investments by almost 40% in shares of US-listed companies, in the first quarter of 2016, and has instead bought a USD 264 million stake in the world's biggest gold maker, "Barrick Gold" Corp., according to Bloomberg. The agency notes that the worth of the holdings of Soros' fund, Soros Fund Management, has decreased 37% between January and March 2016, to 3.5 billion dollars.   Soros has acquired 1.7% of "Barrick", a company headquartered in Toronto, whose shares have more than doubled this year, amid cost cutting and debt reduction measures. Just since March 31st, "Barrick" shares have risen 39%.  Soros also revealed he holds "call" options on 1.05 million shares in the SPDR Gold Trust, an ETF which tracks the price of gold. The American billionaire, who has built a fortune of 24 billion dollars through market investments, is turning to gold as the global economy is faced with risks. Soros recently warned about the risks China's economy could cause, saying that he was reminded of the crisis which affected the US in 2007-2008, generating a global recession.  In this context, investing in gold is seeing increased demand. June delivery gold futures prices rose 0.4% yesterday, at 10:17, on Comex New York, to 1,279.80 dollars an ounce. In early May, the price of gold passed 1,300 dollars an ounce, amid speculations that the US central bank would slow down the tightening of monetary measures, which have caused the dollar to weaken. According to "BNP Paribas" SA analysts, the price of gold will rise to 1,400 dollars/ounce this year, and "ABN Amro Group" NV predicts a price of 1,370 dollars/ounce.  Soros has sold a stakein"Level 3 Communications" Inc., which was worth 173 million dollars on December 31st, 2015, and a stake in "Dow Chemical" Co., which was worth 161 million dollars. The investor has also sold his stakes in "Endo International" Plc and "Delta Air Lines" Inc.
The price of spot gold has risen 16% in the first three months of 2016, the biggest quarterly rise since 1986, according to Bloomberg. The Bloomberg index which tracks the evolution of 14 major gold producers has doubled this year, after a decline of 76% in the 2011-2015 period.

The European Commission will impose fines of hundreds of millions of pounds on countries that do not take in refugees.  Jean-Claude Junker is tomorrow expected to unveil plans to impose a penalty of around €250,000 euros per rejected refugee, in a bid to salvage his botched migration quota scheme.

The European Commission is expected to propose on Wednesday that an emergency scheme to distribute 160,000 people around the bloc following the massive influx last summer be put on a permanent footing, with a quota system of allocations that kick in if there is another vast wave of migrants that overwhelms a country.  The new plan comes despite the temporary scheme having proved a flop. It was approved against the wishes of Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary in September, and so far, 1,441 people have been moved.  “Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” remarked one diplomat.

The London Stock Exchange’s merger with Deutsche Boerse is coming under fire in Germany, with politicians and industry veterans speaking out against the deal amid fears that Frankfurt’s status as a financial hub will be eroded. As both exchanges canvass investors about their £21bn merger, the decision to move the combined group’s headquarters to London while giving the German bourse’s chief executive, Car­sten Kengeter, the top job has been criticised. Manfred Zaß, a former Deutsche Boerse director, has warned that the compromises contained within the “merger of equals” could damage Frankfurt’s standing, despite Mr Kengeter’s claims that the deal would safeguard the city while enabling both the UK and Germany to compete in global markets. Mr Zass, who left the bourse after its failed bid to buy the LSE in 2005, told a German magazine: “We should not be naïve… With respect, if you know the push and pull behind such a merger, it sounds more like an investment banker fairy story. "The supposed parity – the boss here, the domicile there – creates a recognisably lopsided Frankfurt," he told a German magazine. Deutsche Boerse’s home district is also lobbying to retain the exchange’s head offices. Ulrich Caspar, who sits in the regional parliament in Hesse, has said he harbours concerns about the majority of the enlarged group’s shareholder base coming from English-speaking countries.  “It is the task of the German, Hesse and Frankfurter politicians to ensure that the stock market can continue to develop,” he told the German media.  Mr Caspar was a vocal opponent of Deutsche Boerse’s ultimately unsuccessful plans to merge with NYSE in 2012, part of a global wave of consolidation among financial market operators. Wilhelm Speckhardt, former mayor of the Frankfurt suburb of Eschborn, has described the plan to shift the holding company to London as “an unimaginable catastrophe for the town”.

It will take months to reopen Brussels airport fully, its CEO has warned, as staff return to the site a week after it was targeted by Islamist bombers. Arnaud Feist said the building will have to be rebuilt "from the air conditioning to the check-in desks".  The airport said later it would remain closed on Wednesday, dashing hopes it would resume partial services.  Thirty-two people were killed and 96 more are still in hospital after bombs targeted the airport and a metro train.  EU institutions reopened on Tuesday, amid beefed-up security measures. Increased searches on bags and vehicles are being introduced at the European Parliament while many events organised by non-EU bodies have been suspended.  Some 800 airport workers were asked to return to work on Monday to test provisional arrangements involving a temporary check-in area. Enhanced security measures are being introduced in the temporary building and further screening of baggage will take place before passengers reach the departure lounge.

A potential exit of Great Britain from the European Union (Brexit) could affect the exchange rate of the sterling, according to a poll made by Bloomberg, which shows that the currency of this country could drop to 1.35 dollars or even lower, within a week from the vote to leave the EU. Such a level has never been reached since 1985. The Bloomberg analysis was conducted on a sample of 34 economists, and 29 of them anticipate the aforementioned evolution. Also, 23 of the polled economists think that the pound will not recover from the 1.35 level earlier than three months after the Brits' vote on the EU exit, scheduled for June 23rd. Seven of the polled specialists think that the British currency will drop below 1.20 dollars immediately after a vote in favor of the Brexit.   The pound has already lost over 2% in 2016, compared to the currencies of the G10 countries (the Group of the ten most developed countries in the world), as the unequal economic recovery and the increasingly weaker outlook for the hike of the policy rate join the fears of a possible exit of Great Britain from the EU. The depreciation is increasingly pronounced after prime-minister David Cameron announced on Saturday the date of the referendum and some politicians decided to launch campaigns for leaving the EU. "A Brexit vote will affect the pound sterling heavily", said Nick Kounis, head of the macroeconomic research division of "ABN Amro Bank" NV of Amsterdam.   He predicts the pound sterling going below 1.20 dollars a week after a potential vote in favor of the Brexit.  Peter Dixon, an economist with "Commerzbank" AG, the London branch, predicts that the pound sterling will fall to 1.25-1.30 dollars a week after a potential vote in favor of the Brexit.