Europe

Update: the FT writes that the Italian govt set to take a stake between 50% and 70% in Monte dei Paschi, up from the current 4% stake, as part of the government's third bailout in as many years. As the FT adds, "the government rescue, which had long been resisted in Rome, is designed to draw a line under the slow-burn crisis in Italian banking that has alarmed investors and become the main source of concern for European financial regulators."

It remains to be seen if Germany, long a critic of state bailouts, will be as agreeable.

Total chaos reigns in European banking stocks this morning as Monte Paschi shares crash, soar, and plunge amid on-again, off-again bail-in, bail-out headlines (and stocks and bonds hit record lows). However, Italy is now not alone as Spanish banks are also bloodbathing following a European Court ruling on mortgage fraud went against them.

Trumpenstein ! Our Creation - Foretold 157 Years Ago

The election of Donald Trump has cast the political elite around the world into a state of shock. His arrival, so soon after the titanic Brexit vote, has profoundly undermined the neo liberal political status-quo that has dominated western economies over the past 30 years.

"Trumpenstein" © GoldCore

US equity futures and Asian stocks were unchanged while European stocks declined after touching the highest level in almost a year, as Italian and Spanish banks dragged indexes lower. The dollar eased back from 14-year highs as bond yields fell on Wednesday and oil extended its advance in increasingly thin trading.

Submitted by a Zero Hedge reader who wishes to remain anonymous:

OPEN LETTER TO MINISTER-PRESIDENT SEEHOFER(Sent before the carnage in Berlin's Christmas market)

Dear Minister-President Seehofer,

I would like to commend you on your opposition to mass uncontrolled immigration into Europe. One would think that it would be trivial to praise politicians – who are elected to uphold law and order, meaning our culture and values – for doing so, but these are the times we are living in.