Marc Faber on Emerging Markets

Truth about Markets - London

Max & Stacy's London radio show from 19 Dec........listen here

Singer Jim Corr on the Irish Ecomomy - Bono nowhere in sight

Ireland in the Noose - IMF bailout plan to get more inflexible over time despite assurances

By Jon Ihle, from the Irish Tribune:

The bailout conditions agreed between Ireland and the EU and IMF are likely to get more restrictive over time, despite official assurances that there is "room for discussion" around the specifics, according to a senior source briefed on the matter.

According to the source, who has had contact with senior IMF officials, any slippage in carrying out the programme will result in tougher modifications to the plan.

The terms of the memorandum of understanding, which lays out the programme for Ireland's financial support, are expected to become increasingly inflexible with each quarterly review, as IMF officials achieve a finer understanding of the country's problems, the source said.....read on

Keiser Report - We didn't know it was going to blow up

Exchange Fiat Trash for Cold Hard Cash - First Gold vending machine in the USA

Wiki Rap

Jim Rickards interviewed on King World News

Jim Rickards interviewed by Eric King on King World News on the year that was and looking forward to 2011........listen here

Banks vs. Wikileaks

France's AAA Grade at Risk as Rating Cuts Spread

From Bloomberg:

France risks losing its top AAA grade as Europe’s debt crisis prompts a wave of downgrades that threatens to engulf the region’s highest-rated borrowers, with Belgium also facing a possible cut.

Moody’s Investors Service said Dec. 15 it may lower Spain’s rating, citing “substantial funding requirements,” and slashed Ireland’s rating by five levels on Dec. 17. Standard & Poor’s is reviewing its assessments of Ireland, Portugal and Greece. Costs to insure French government debt rose to a record today with the country’s credit default swaps more expensive than lower-rated securities from the Czech Republic and Chile.

“Every sovereign may get penalized in the year ahead,” said Toby Nangle, who helps oversee $46 billion as director of asset allocation at Baring Asset Management in London. “It would be a big deal if France was to have its AAA rating stripped. I don’t think the likelihood of a downgrade is reflected in the market.”........read on