A Worldly Mess?

It's one of those weeks where I wish I was back in paradise, far away from markets. Euro fatigue is wearing everyone down, including yours truly who has been blogging like crazy trying to keep up with everything that's going on in the world. Everywhere you look, it's a frigging mess:

• Trigger-happy investors dumped stocks again on Thursday, scared by the market's sudden fall through a key technical level brought on by more worries about Europe's debt troubles.
• Commodities tumbled the most in eight weeks on concern that Europe’s debt crisis is spreading, hindering the global economy and eroding demand for energy, metals and grains.
• Europe’s debt crisis is a “more serious” situation than the housing bubble three years ago that preceded a global recession, General Motors Co. (GM) Chief Executive Officer Dan Akerson said today.
• Protests and violence broke out on the streets of cities in Italy and Greece on Thursday as new governments in both countries pressed forward with unpopular austerity measures and economic reforms demanded by the European Union.
• Members of a Congress deficit-reduction committee considered scaling back their efforts on Thursday amid a Republican split over taxes and mounting doubts of reaching a deal by next week's deadline.
• New York police prevented protesters from shutting down Wall Street on Thursday, arresting at least 177 people in repeated clashes with an Occupy Wall Street rally that drew fewer demonstrators than expected.
• China’s new banking regulator warned lenders that some projects backed by local governments may run out of funds, and loans to property developers are likely to sour as sales slow.
• Brazil braced for a sharper-than-expected slowdown as a key indicator of economic activity fell on Thursday and the government reportedly considered easing curbs on credit and investment.
• Illinois will owe $1 billion more to its pension funds next fiscal year as smaller employee contributions kick in, according to projections released this week by state actuaries.
• The number of children in the United States considered poor rose by 1 million in 2010, the U.S. Census said Thursday, with more than one in five of the youngest Americans now living in poverty.
• And then there is pension poverty. “Eighty is the new 65,” Joseph Ready, executive vice president of Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement & Trust, said in an interview at Bloomberg headquarters in New York, referring to a new Wells Fargo survey which showed Americans are prepared to work longer in order to save enough for retirement. “It’s a real sea change.” Tell me about it.
• Canadians may have to put aside dreams of being financially free by their mid-50s. According to the Royal Bank's latest housing survey, a majority will carry mortgage debt long after they become eligible for seniors discounts. Freedom 75?
  
• Kyle Bass is warning us of Christianity without Hell, Neil Farage is blasting away at his EU councils members warning them of a 'German-dominated' EU, hedge funds and private equity funds are patiently waiting on the sidelines to turn trash into treasure, and the Harper Government pretty much ensured pension poverty for most Canadians.

It's a bloody mess and I don't see any cleanup coming anytime soon. On a more positive note, would appreciate if my readers can take some time off these markets and watch the video below to support McGill's Goodman Cancer Research Center. Every time someone clicks on this link, a donation is made. The world is a mess but it's important to remember how fortunate we are and support the good work of medical researchers.