Europe

Submitted by Ben Hunt via Salient Partners' Epsilon Theory blog,

Late last month, we noted that Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz was set to cut social benefits for refugees who failed to attend “special integration training courses.”

Austria, like Germany and multiple other countries in the Schengen zone, is struggling to cope with the influx of asylum seekers fleeing the war-torn Mid-East. Of particular concern is the “integration” process whereby those hailing from “different cultures” are having a decidedly difficult time blending into polite Western society.

Coming to Japanese bank stocks soon...

European bank stocks are down almost 40% from the day Draghi unleashed NIRP in Europe. Today's plunge takes out recent lows, pushing prices back to almost "whatever it takes" lows.

There Is No Freedom Without Truth

Paul Craig Roberts

The ink was not yet dry on the seemingly endless Monsanto-Syngenta on again/off again takeover drama, when moments ago in a shocking development the newswires were lit up with news that a new, and very much unexpected, bidder has emerged for the Swiss pesticides giant Syngenta: China National Chemical Corp, or ChemChina as it is known, which according to WSJ and BBG is set to pay $43.7 billion to acquire a piece of Swiss corporate history.