EUROPE’S TOP BANKS CUT 80,000 MORE STAFF

Europe's largest banks cut their staff by another 3.5 percent last year and the prospect of a return to pre-crisis employment levels seems far off, despite the region's fledgling economic recovery.

Spurred into action by falling revenue, mounting losses and the need to convince regulators they are no longer "too big to fail", banks across the globe have shrunk radically since the 2008 collapse of U.S. bank Lehman Brothers sparked the financial crisis.

Last year, the tide of bad news began to turn for European banks, which are among the region's largest employers.

Helped by recovering economies and receding fears for the euro zone's future, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Banks index .SX7P rose 19 percent, outpacing the 17.4 percent increase in multi-sector stocks.

But despite the improved outlook, Europe's 30 largest banks by market value cut staff by 80,000 in 2013, calculations by Reuters based on their year-end statements showed.

Recruitment consultants warn workers' hopes for a turnaround this year could be misplaced, bad news for countries like Spain where tens of thousands of bank layoffs have helped drive unemployment to 26 percent.

However, while painful for the people who have lost their jobs, the reduction of large banks' workforces through a combination of asset sales and redundancies means banks won't have as big an impact on overall employment in future crises.

Antoine Morgaut, chief executive for Europe and South America at recruiter Robert Walters (RWA.L) does not expect the industry's employment to ever return to what it was in its heyday of 2008. Then, the 25 of the top 30 banks with comparable figures employed about 252,000 more than the 1.7 million they do today. "It's been a bubble for 20 years," said Morgaut.

"In specialty areas we are seeing a bit of an upside but it is quite marginal and it will stay like that for the next six to nine months," he added.

Credit to Reuters

Russia Hints At Ushering In A New Gold Backed Ruble

The Silver Bug: The Central Bank of Russia has made a subtle, yet serious threat against the lynch-pin of the American Economy, the US dollar.

According to Russian media, Russia’s RIA Novosti Bank Rossiya has just released a new logo, which is a gold ruble.

This action comes in response to JPMorgan entering the economic battlefield and blocking Russian wire transfers.

Putin has made it quite clear that any attacks on the Russian economy will be answered in with retaliations of their own.



This latest threat has the potential to derail the American economy.

If Russia decides to use its vast gold reserves to back the Ruble, the ramifications for the global economy would be huge.

Already the US Dollar, which has had the luxury of being the reserve currency of the World for far too long, was skating on thin ice.




Credit to etfdailynews.com

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Pastor Hagee: Blood moons point to 'world-shaking event'

Megachurch pastor John Hagee is warning his San Antonio congregation and international following of a “world-shaking event that will happen between April 2014 and October 2015.”

And, no, he's not talking about Fiesta.

Hagee, founder of the Cornerstone Church, points to “four blood moons,” a rare astronomical event of four consecutive and complete lunar eclipses, known as a tetrad, which begins April 15. The San Antonio pastor asserts the dates of the eclipses signify a major event that will change history in a book released in October, a series of sermons and a TV special airing on Tuesday, the first night of the tetrad.

“What is the prophetic significance? Is this the end of the age?” Hagee, 73, asked his flock during a sermon near the time he released the book.

The televangelist, who declined to comment through spokesman Ari Morgenstern, gained international attention two years ago for a series of sermons asking, “Could 2012 be the end of the world as we know it,” that was broadcast to millions worldwide via his organization John Hagee Ministries and Global Evangelism Television.

Videos with dramatic music featuring Hagee's new prophecy have been posted to the organization's YouTube channel during the last few weeks, claiming “something is about to change” and seemingly ginning up excitement for the April 15 GETV special.

The four “blood moons” are total lunar eclipses that occur in intervals of about six months, an event known as a tetrad, according to NASA. A total eclipse is a result of a perfect alignment of the sun, the moon and the Earth and causes the moon to glow dark red.

Each eclipse in the upcoming tetrad will occur on a significant religious date, Hagee points out, citing NASA.

“The first of the four blood moons will come on April 15 this year, during Passover. The second will be on October 8, at the time of the Feast of the Tabernacles,” Hagee said, according to theDaily Express in London. “On April 4, 2015, during Passover, we will have another blood moon. Then finally, on September 28, during next year's Feast of the Tabernacles, the fourth blood and final moon will dawn.”

Hagee said to “have them fall on these exact dates is something that has to be beyond coincidental,” according to the Daily Express.

The Cornerstone Church, located near Stone Oak on the North Side, has about 20,000 active members, according to its website.

During last year's sermon, Hagee read Acts 2: 19-20 from the New Testament to signify the importance of the “blood red moons.”

“And I will show wonders in Heaven above and signs in the Earth beneath, the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.”

Between 1600 and 1900 there were no tetrads, but since, there have been five, according to NASA's millennium catalog of lunar eclipses.

The red moons all will be visible from the United States, and Tuesday's moon will be visible for approximately 78 minutes around 2 a.m., Fred Espenak, an eclipse expert for NASA, wrote on the agency's website.

“When you see these signs, the Bible says, lift up your head and rejoice, your redemption draweth nigh,” Hagee said in a sermon. “I believe that the Heavens are God's billboard, that He has been sending signals to Planet Earth but we just have not been picking them up.”

Credit to mysanantonio.com

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‘Israel planning new Jewish temple near al-Aqsa Mosque’

Israeli officials have unveiled the model of a Jewish temple near the al-Aqsa Mosque Compound in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

Palestinian activists say the model of the so-called third Jewish temple has a big hall and can accommodate hundreds of visitors each day.

Israeli authorities hope the project could attract tens of thousands of local and foreign tourists every year.

The al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and heritage says the move is a direct threat to the mosque.

The organization argues that the project is aimed at building enough support to make a Jewish temple on al-Aqsa site.

Palestinian groups have already warned of large-scale Israeli excavations near al-Aqsa’s southern gate.

On February 25, the Israeli parliament, Knesset, discussed a plan to annex al-Aqsa Mosque Compound.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation has condemned the debate as a “dangerous escalation,” calling it part of Israel’s goal to “Judaize Jerusalem.”


Credit to PressTV