Debt, defaults, and devaluations: why this market crash is like nothing we've seen before

A pernicious cycle of collapsing commodities, corporate defaults, and currency wars loom over the global economy. Can anything stop it from unravelling? A global recession is on the way. This truism of economics holds at any point in which the world is not in the grips of a contraction.

Read more at the UK Telegraph
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Puerto Rico filing says govt. likely to cut services or default on debt before year's end

Puerto Rico's government will likely have to cut back on public services or default on debts before the end of the year because it is running out of cash, the Government Development Bank said in a financial filing. Putting numbers to a warning this summer from Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla, the filing late Friday said the U.S. territory had a $370 million overdraft as of Sept. 30 and burned through a $400 million emergency loan from a group of public corporations to keep government operating. It also cut revenue estimates for the current fiscal year by $355 million because of weaker than expected collections.

Read more at CNBC
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Greece Says That It Will Default On June 5th, And Moody’s Warns Of A ‘Deposit Freeze’

The Greek government says that a “moment of truth” is coming on June 5th. Either their lenders agree to give them more money by that date, or Greece will default on a 300 million euro loan payment to the IMF. Of course it won’t technically be a “default” according to IMF rules for another 30 days after that, but without a doubt news that Greece cannot pay will send shockwaves throughout the financial world. At that point, those holding Greek bonds will start to panic as they realize that they might not get paid as well. All over Europe, there are major banks that are holding large amounts of Greek debt and derivatives that are related to the performance of Greek debt. If something is not done to avert disaster at the last moment, a default by Greece could be the spark that sets off a major European financial crisis this summer.

Read more at the Economic Collapse Blog
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