In a recent interview with Idolator, Australia-born pop star in waiting Betty Who was asked about her musical influences. She listed people like M83 and Oracular Spectacular-era MGMT. However, one listen to Betty's recently released debut EP, The Movement, and it's clear that while those two might have been wafting around atmospherically in the background, bigger pop names such as Katy Perry, Robyn and a clutch of female singers from the 80s bear a bigger influence....   read more >

Europe's non-performing loan problem is such an issue that there is increasing bluster that the ECB may take this garbage on to its balance sheet since policymakers realize that bad debts and non-performing loans (NPLs) reduce the capacity of banks to lend, hindering the monetary policy transmission mechanism. Bad debts consume capital and make banks more risk averse, especially with respect to lending to higher risk borrowers such as SMEs.

Submitted by Adam Taggart via Peak Prosperity blog,

Everyone knows the odds of winning in a casino are worse than 50% (often much worse depending on the game played). So who wouldn't rush to a casino where, instead, the odds were overwhelmingly in the gambler's favor?

Whoever orchestrated the last two hour closing ramp sure has a satanic sense of humor, opting to close the S&P at 1666 or exactly 1000 points above the "generational" low. A late-day desperation to buy-buy-buy, triggered by an avalanche of stops being triggered in the DAX futures market (as it broke all time highs), sent stocks soaring. Treasuries had been weak all day (giving back yesterday's gains and more). The equity spurt was not accompanied by VIX or Credit or Oil or Copper but JPY's break of 103 was another trigger supporting the rise. But that doesn't matter.