German Lower House Begins Debate On EFSF Ratification, And Other European Events

Today at 9:00 GMT, Germany is expected to vote on the EFSF in a much anticipated vote. Needless to say, while futures are slowly drifting higher on expectations of a favorable outcome, a negative vote will see the EUR plunge to parity with the USD and kill markets in minutes as it would mean that German politicians pick their careers over rescuing a failed monetary experiment and bailing out pathological big spenders and liars. As the BBC reports, "If more than 19 members of Mrs Merkel's coalition rebel against her, she will have to rely on the support of the centre-left opposition to pass the bill on new powers for the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF)." And if she does that, we will have a rerun of Angela's ashes.

From BBC:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces a major test of her authority, as MPs vote on whether to approve new powers for the EU's main bailout fund.

Some of her coalition oppose committing more money to propping up struggling eurozone members such as Greece.

In Athens, protesting civil servants have blocked entrances to ministries.

The demonstrations come as international inspectors resume talks with Greece to decide whether it has done enough to receive more funds.

If more than 19 members of Mrs Merkel's coalition rebel against her, she will have to rely on the support of the centre-left opposition to pass the bill on new powers for the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).

The BBC's Gavin Hewitt in Berlin says that although the bill is expected to pass by a close margin, Mrs Merkel could emerge weakened, unable to hold her coalition together at a critical moment in the eurozone crisis.

Mrs Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and their allies have been pressuring the handful of dissidents to get in line before the vote
at 11:00 (09:00 GMT).

Here is Bloomberg with a summary of all key European events: German lawmakers are set to back an expansion of the euro-area rescue fund’s firepower. Finland wants Europe’s permanent crisis management facility to start a year earlier than first envisaged. Unemployment in Germany likely fell by 8,000 in September, 8:55 a.m. Romania’s central bank will probably leave interest rates unchanged today. The Swiss National Bank will use “all measures” to defend the franc ceiling of 1.20 versus the euro, Vice President Thomas Jordan said. Investors expect the world economy to relapse into a recession, according to a Bloomberg poll.

• ECONOMICS: Spanish CPI, 8 a.m. ECB’s Nowotny, 9:15 a.m. U.K. money sup- ply, 9:30 a.m. Euro-zone economic confidence, 10 a.m.
• COMPANIES: The London Metal Exchange said it got more than 10 “expressions of interest” and may recommend a bid to shareholders as early as March.
• GOVERNMENT: EU leaders start two-day meeting with officials from eastern Europe. Italian and Spanish financial market regulators extended temporary bans on short selling of financial shares. Norway’s central bank will force lenders to wean themselves off its deposit facility in an effort to spur interbank lending.
• MARKETS: The price of options to protect against losses on equities from China to India and Brazil has surged to its highest since 2009 relative to U.S. contracts. (All times are in local time for London.)

And some pretty charts from Bloomberg Brief:

source :zerohedge