TIDBITS

 
Ahead of the Fed.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares drifted higher on Monday after a downbeat session on Wall Street kept sentiment in check, while the euro recovered from a fresh 12-year low touched on the divergent monetary policy paths between the United States and the euro zone.

Yes, there is a Fed confab scheduled for this week and everyone will get a firsthand definition of patience, like one's old girlfriend. Is she going or staying?

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Be careful what you cede sovereignty for. That's the theme in our minds of this article. www.marketwatch.com/story/greek-crisis-tests-ecbs-credibility-2015-03-16?
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Twenty-four central banks have cut their interest rates so far this year and more cuts are on the way. Norway is expected soon to foster another cut as falling energy prices been more pain. Beggar-thy-neighbor running amok.
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President goes missing.

The Kremlin denied suggestions of Mr. Putin’s illness. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian leader was absolutely healthy in comments to the Ekho Moskvy radio station Thursday, adding that “there’s no need to worry, everything is fine.”
We don't really know if there's anything amiss here, but when was the last time you heard those reassuring words?

It's a bit like a central banker bellowing: "Don't sweat it we got this covered." ---
Trouble in pension land or what you've been getting for years from your elected officials whose real definition of democracy is line their own pockets not yours. From the WSJ:

U.S. public pension liabilities ballooned by 32.7% in the years following fiscal 2008 while assets increased only 14.4%, according to preliminary fiscal 2014 data from the National Association of State Retirement Administrators. That leaves public retirement systems with enough to cover 73.5% of future obligations as compared with 85.2% in 2008, according to the data.

Longtime workers have often been spared from some of the most drastic cuts as government officials took the easier path of cutting benefits for workers yet to be hired or suspending retiree cost-of-living bumps. But state and local governments that face pressure to act more aggressively are increasingly shifting more responsibility to current employees.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie last month became the latest to suggest more radical curtailments of benefits for current workers. The move led to more than a dozen unions saying in March they would file a suit seeking to block the pension changes. Unions have also challenged prior attempts in Rhode Island, Illinois and Louisiana to target existing workers, arguing that pension benefits are contractual promises that can’t be breached.

Brought to you by insensitive, greedy, wasteful politicians nationwide.

 

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