No Greece Solution: Told You So

The Market Ticker

Look at this nonsense (and BS):

French President Nicolas Sarkozy bowed to German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s demand for an International Monetary Fund role in a potential rescue package for Greece. Qualcomm’s forecast helped send S&P 500 technology shares up 1.6 percent. Financial shares rallied 2.3 percent as Bernanke eased concern the U.S. central bank would consider lifting rates and the Treasury was said to plan an orderly sale of its stake in Citigroup Inc.

This is real positive-sounding, right?

Then how come this just came out?

March 25 (Bloomberg) — European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said the Eurogroup needs to take responsibility for its members in an interview broadcast on France’s Public Senat channel today.

The Greek government issued “false figures” which is “unacceptable,” Trichet said in the interview. Possible International Monetary Fund aid for Greece is “very, very bad,” he said.

Oh, so lying is finally recognized as bad?

Excuse me, Mr. Trichet.

How about those nice banks over there in Europe? Have they all come clean about their hidden liabilities? Market prices for assets? Anyone holding some garbage off-balance sheet that has the rough smell and consistency of dead fish?

Nobody would have a few (hundred) billion of HELOCs written against underwater firsts over here in the US, would they? After all, we know there are plenty of banks that did that here in the United States, and we also know that European banks are more highly-levered, and more opaque in their balance sheets, than ours over here.

Those who countenance lying by financial institutions have little room to complain when sovereign governments do the same thing, and as we are now getting a sixth object lesson in “the cash flow always wins” (Bear Stearns, Fannie, Freddie, Lehman and AIG all failed to get the point across!) we’ll keep being hit over the head with a 2×6 until people like you shut the hell up and start prosecuting the liars.

Grab the folks and watch for the pretty flash over to the east…