BERLUSCONI'S REVENGE:UPDATE: Monti Government Has Run Its Course, Pier Luigi Bersani, head of Democratic Party Tells President!!!

Everything was going along swimmingly, and then BAM.

The Italian market has gone sharply negative and yields have spiked after political chaos breaks out.

The big issue is tension between Monti's party, and Berlusconi's party, which abstained from a key vote.

More to come in a moment.

Here's Italy's FTSE MIB, down 1.34%.


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Business Insider‏@businessinsider

The ECB Makes Its Next Decision This Morning — Here's What You need To Know [link to read.bi]

Business Insider‏@businessinsider

BERLUSCONI: Things Have Gotten Much Worse In Italy, And I Am 'Besieged' By Requests To Make A Comeback [link to read.bi]

Silvio Berlusconi has dropped heavy hints once again that he intends to fight the country's next elections.

The three-times prime minister accused his successor, Mario Monti, of plunging the country into a spiral of recession and said that he was "besieged by requests" to contest the elections in March.

"The situation today is much worse than it was a year ago when I left the government out of a sense of responsibility and a love for my country," the billionaire businessman said in a statement which he issued after a long meeting with supporters from his People of Freedom party in Rome.

"I cannot let my country fall into a recessive spiral without end. It's not possible to go on like this," he said.

"Today Italy is on the edge of an abyss: the economy is exhausted, a million more are unemployed, purchasing power has collapsed, tax pressure is rising to intolerable levels," he said.

Mr Berlusconi, 76, claimed that he had been "besieged by requests from (his) party to announce at the soonest my re-entry into politics to guide the PDL."

He ignored the fact that since taking the helm just over a year ago, Mr Monti has calmed financial markets, restored confidence in Italy's abilities to reform its economy and reduced the spread between Italy and German benchmark bonds to nearly half the level it was when he took over.

Since resigning in November last year, Mr Berlusconi has constantly flip-flopped over his political future, changing his mind frequently about whether to lead his party into the elections in the spring.

But this time his criticism of the technical administration of Mr Monti, and its supposed mismanagement of the economy, was made in particularly forthright terms.

Should he decide to fight the elections, his chances of becoming prime minister for a fourth time in 20 years look slim, however.

Opinion polls show support for his PDL party at around 15 per cent, compared with nearly 35 per cent for the main opposition, the Democratic Party, led by Pierluigi Bersani, a cigar-smoking former Communist.

Mr Bersani said this week that he "cannot wait" to take on Mr Berlusconi should he choose to fight the election.

Mr Berlusconi's announcement was met with weary resignation by many Italians, who have become accustomed in the last few months to seeing the former premier declare his intention to contest the election, only to back down a few days later.

"All this will only give the impression to the rest of the world, to our partners, that we are going backwards, and that is not good for Italy. We need to show that the country is moving forward," said Corrado Passera, the economic development minister in the Monti administration.

"Berlusconi represents the past, it's not worth talking about him anymore," said Carlo De Benedetti, a long-time business rival.

But senior members of Mr Berlusconi's party claimed Italy was much worse off under the Monti government and needed saving by "Il Cavaliere", as the former premier is known.

Mr Berlusconi had made "a grand gesture of responsibility" when he resigned in November 2011 amid sex scandals and fears of a Greek-style economic crisis, but it was now time for him to return, said Sandro Bondi, one of his former ministers.

"The Monti government has done nothing but impoverish Italy," Mr Bondi said.

The sex scandals which in part precipitated Mr Berlusconi's fall are still being played out.

On Monday a court in Milan is expected to hear testimony from "Ruby the Heart Stealer", the erotic dancer whom Mr Berlusconi is accused of paying for sex during his "bunga bunga" parties when she was an alleged under age prostitute. He denies the charges.


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Just love bad news my friend
Keep up the great work

What a joke. Italy is.

Face it, if you could be Berlusconi for a day you would jump at the chance.

Why? Because of the hookers?

A billionaire surrounded by hookers would be too much fun, suprised his heart hasnt given out.

There are hookers in every town. Every man can have them.

Business Insider‏@businessinsider

Here Comes The ECB Decision... [link to read.bi]

Minutes away from the European Central Bank's December policy meeting.

The ECB will announce its interest rate decision at 7:45 AM ET, followed by a press conference and subsequent Q&A session beginning at 8:30.

55 of the 61 economists polled by Bloomberg expect no change to the benchmark refinancing rate nor the deposit rate from today's interest rate decision, which currently stand at 0.75 percent and 0.00 percent, respectively.

However, the ECB will also release updated macroeconomic forecasts at today's meeting, and given a continued string of weak eurozone economic data, the central bank's staff projections are subject to significant downgrades.

The issue of the recently announced Greek debt buyback is also likely to be in focus during the press conference and Q&A.


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Gregor Peter‏@L0gg0l

PD says govt has lost majority, Monti must consult president -- ANSA [link to www.ansa.it]

(ANSA) - Rome, December 6 - The centre-left Democratic Party (PD) said Thursday that Premier Mario Monti must consult with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano as his emergency technocrat government has effectively lost its majority in parliament.

The call came after ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PdL) party announced it was deserting a confidence vote in the Senate on a government economic-development bill.

"If the government no longer has a majority, I think Monti should go to (see Napolitano at) the Quirinal Palace," said Anna Finocchiaro, the PD's Senate whip.

The government won the confidence vote as it was backed by the other parties supporting Monti's government, including the PD and the centrist UDC, and the PdL, the biggest group in parliament, did jot actively vote against it.

If Monti's government had lost the vote it would have been forced to step down. "There is a political problem of enormous importance," Finocchiaro said shortly before the confidence vote took place.

"Today the government will have numbers (of supporters in parliament) that do not respect the Senate majority".
[link to www.ansa.it]

crash Euro crash

ONLY IF MONTI FALLS...

Isnt the spanish government quite shaky, too?

zerohedge‏@zerohedge

ECB keeps rate unchanged as expected

Business Insider‏@businessinsider

BREAKING: LEAVES RATES UNCHANGED [link to read.bi]

The EU boat will sink before the US one if this pans out !