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Thursday, April 28, 2016

Greece hands over Olympic Torch to Rio Olympics 2016 organisers

The flags of Greece, right, Brazil left, and Olympics wave as spectators wait for the handover ceremony at Panathinean stadium in Athens, Wednesday, April 27, 2016. The Rio Games chief thanked construction workers, volunteers, Rio 2016 organising committee ...


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European Union opposes Greece's demand for emergency summit on bailout

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is seeking an emergency European Union summit to unlock the immediate payment of further bailout aid to Athens, the Greek national news agency AMNA reported Wednesday, citing government sources. A tentative meeting was ...


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Dijsselbloem tells Greece Eurogroup will meet on May 9

ATHENS (Reuters) - Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem has told the Greek finance minister that euro zone finance ministers will meet on May 9 to discuss Greece, a Greek government official said on Thursday. European Council President Donald Tusk said on ...


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Greek deal with creditors to come in a matter of days says Stournaras

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. Enter up to 25 symbols separated by commas or spaces in the text box below. These symbols will be available during your ...


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Athens finds vibrancy can revive before economy does

By almost every measure, Athens is a city of deprivation. Rates of homelessness, poverty, bankruptcy – even suicide – have steadily increased across the Greek capital since the country needed its first bailout in 2010.


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There are 2 things the Fed is wrong about

[janet yellen]Gary Cameron/Reuters The Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee statement on Wednesday explaining their reasoning not to raise rates was intentionally vague. The goal (as best we understand it) is to be transparent, but not _too _transparent. This wide berth makes it so the Fed doesn't look wrong by making precise forecasts or spook markets (too much). Despite this, one chart from Deutsche Bank Chief US Economist Joe LaVorgna lays out that the Fed is wrong on one thing. In Wednesday's statement, the FOMC stated: “Households’ real income has risen at a solid rate, and consumer sentiment remains high." Eh, not so much. This was a change from the previous meeting's message in March, and by now including this it would indicate it is a new or significant trend the Fed sees (again, as best we understand it since we can't get inside the members' heads). The issue is both real personal disposable income and the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment index have fallen. Two qualifiers here, the Fed has used the terminology before and, yes, both measures are higher than in years past. The issue is adding that line into the statement at this point is a little iffy. For instance, the only time consumer sentiment was mentioned in a statement was April 2015 based on our search of the past two years of statements, when the measure was much higher. "The intra-meeting data and revisions were not as positive as the Fed suggests," said a note from the chart by LaVorgna. Essentially, the Fed is trying to play up data that actually isn't as hot as they make it seem. [Screen Shot 2016 04 28 at 1.35.34 PM]Gary Cameron/Reuters NOW WATCH: FORMER GREEK FINANCE MINISTER: The single largest threat to the global economy


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GREECE'S perfect debt trap

The longer we spend in the hole the harder it is to get out. As long as the negotiations with the troika are not finished and the economy is starved of ...


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Koulourakia tis Lambris with Orange

  Koulourakia come in many shapes and flavors. The Minoans in Ancient Crete made snake-shaped koulourakia reflecting the healing power of snakes that were part of their religious practice. In more recent Greek tradition, koulourakia shaped like twists are baked for Easter in various flavors, including vanilla, cinnamon, and orange. Orange flavor koulourakia are a […]


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Austerity Inspectors Go, Work Continues

ATHENS— Work continues on negotiations, but the European Union’s top austerity inspectors have left Greece. The European Union’s executive says its senior negotiators in Greece’s bailout talks are returning to Brussels, but will continue to work. EU Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva says “important progress” has been made so far in the talks in Athens, which […]


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Dallara: Greece Is Still in Intensive Care

April 28 - Former Institute of International Finance chief and current Partners Group Chairman Charles Dallara talks about the financial future of Greece and what European countries need to do. He speaks on "Bloomberg ‹GO›."


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Turkey keeps challenging Greece with air- and sea-violations and even claims of SAR areas

“>Turkey openly tries to secure its claims in the Aegean Sea and thus with the seal of the NATO force currently monitorin gthe refugees flows in the area. Today, Thursday, two Turkish Coast Guard vessels entered the area of the island of Oinousses near the island of Chios two days […]


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A Pair of Greek Wines for a Spring Feast

Greece has an ancient and rich … the largest winemaking area of Greece. From this mountainous region, these … , is absolutely stunning, an impressive Greek sweet wine that will rock …


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The GREEK view of the financial crisis

In a memorable passage in this apologia, former GREEK Minster of Finance Yanis Varoufakis describes walking down a long cold corridor in the ...


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Important progress has been made in GREEK review talks

For over 200 years people from Greece like lending money and never pay it back. it has Always been that way there. Northern European banks where ...


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HFSF picks firm to review GREEK bank boards

Greece's bank bailout fund has picked consulting firm Spencer Stuart to undertake a review of the boards of the country's four big banks, part of a drive ...


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GREEK Debt Crises: Why to Delay Negotiations When Solution is Imminent

This demand, along with Greece's reluctance to implement fiscal cuts, led to unsatisfactory negotiations between GREEK Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras ...


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Kids Learn Sword Fighting and GREEK Mythology at Camp Half-Blood

GREEK mythology-inspired day camp Camp Half-Blood includes games, quests, and courses including stealth training, sword fighting, and more.


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Little to Show at One-Year Anniversary of GREECE'S Golden Dawn Trial

Last Wednesday marked one year since the start of the Golden Dawn trial in GREECE. The trial, originally a remarkable effort to focus on accountability ...


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Eurogroup meeting on GREECE likely on May 9 or 10

ATHENS, April 28 (Reuters) - Eurozone finance ministers are likely to meet on GREECE on May 9 or 10 to try to resolve a deadlock in talks between ...


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Greece’s Proposal Will Be Accepted by Creditors, Says Parliament President

Greece’s Parliament President Nikos Voutsis expressed his optimism in Greek radio on Thursday that the country’s proposal on how to complete the negotiations with creditors will be accepted and the program review will conclude. “It [the negotiations] will have a good conclusion … I’m optimistic that the review will be concluded with the acceptance of the Greek proposal,”


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Moscovici: Greece Can Legislate for Contingency ‘Mechanism’ Rather than Detailed Measures

The European Commission does not think that Greece needs to vote for specific contingency measures but for a mechanism outlining how such measures might be taken, European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici told a group of reporters on Thursday. “In our view, it is not necessary to have a precise and detailed


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After bombing Libya into chaos, NATO plans blockade to bar refugees from Europe, with U.S. help

Source: www.salon.com - Thursday, April 28, 2016 Five years after bombing Libya and effectively destroying its government, NATO has declared plans to impose a naval blockade on the North African nation in order to prevent refugees and migrants from entering Europe. Human rights experts say this plan likely violates international law, like the E.U. plan to deport refugees and migrants en masse to Turkey. The U.S. expressed support for the proposed NATO blockade this week. “[Obama] said he was willing to commit NATO assets,” Italian Prime Minster Matteo Renzi told reporters. After a meeting of the heads of state of the U.S., U.K., France, Germany and Italy, the White House released a statement saying the Western leaders urged NATO and the E.U. “to draw on their experience in the Aegean to explore how they could work together to address in an orderly and humane way migrant flows in the central Mediterranean.” NATO is already patrolling the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey for refugees and migrants fleeing violence in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. “Through the NATO mission in the Aegean Sea, the U.S. has shown its willingness to take part in combating illegal immigration here,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel, characterizing mass refugee movement as “illegal immigration.” According to Merkel, President Obama assured European leaders the U.S. is “prepared to also take responsibility with regard to the migration route from Libya to Italy if necessary.” An estimated All Related


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Merger Thursday, Valeant and a shake-up at Bank of America

_FINANCE__ INSIDER IS BUSINESS INSIDER'S MIDDAY SUMMARY OF THE TOP STORIES OF THE PAST 24 HOURS._ What a day. Bank of America has made a slate of changes in its equities business ― here is the memo announcing the new management line-up. The M&A market has bounced back, with a bunch of big deals announced on Thursday. Here are the highlights: * A startup that just launched out of stealth a few months ago just got bought for up to $10 billion. * Abbott Labs is buying St. Jude Medical for $25 billion. * Sanofi made a $9.3 billion effort to acquire Medivation. * Boutiques led the way, with Evercore, Guggenheim Securities and Centerview Partners advising on some of the big deals. Then there is Valeant news.  * Bill Ackman and Valeant execs got through one of the most brutal Senate hearings we've ever seen on Thursday afternoon. * The prepared remarks from the hearing were cringeworthy.  * Elizabeth Warren got to one of the most important unanswered questions about Valeant Pharmaceuticals at the hearing. * Valeant published a filing detailing the new CEO's pay package during the hearing. * That pay package, which could see the CEO earn $500 million, is putting the company in danger.  In other news, Priceline's CEO is resigning because of a personal relationship with an employee, and the brutal cull on Wall Street (probably) isn't finished. Here's what happens next at Yahoo. In related news, even Yahoo's security guard is worried about Marissa Mayer. And here is our list of the 50 best restaurants in America. _HERE ARE THE TOP WALL STREET HEADLINES AT MIDDAY:_ ECB CHIEF MARIO DRAGHI: OUR CHEAP MONEY IS SAVING THE WORLD - Draghi addressed Europe's lack of inflation, the impact of low interest rates on savers, Greece's debt problem, and the upcoming UK referendum in an interview. THE MASSIVE SHIFT TAKING PLACE IN INVESTING MIGHT JUST BE A FAD - Much of investing is a slow burn — retirement plans, re-allocating every year or so, buy and hold. So when things do shift in the investing world it can feel monumental. CHINA'S ARMY OF INVESTORS HAVEN'T LEARNED THEIR LESSON, AND IT LOOKS LIKE HISTORY IS GOING TO REPEAT ITSELF - You might think the crazy roller coaster ride that is China's stock market would be too much for some mom-and-pop investors to stomach. Think again.  THE MARKET IS GOING TO SUCK FOR THE NEXT 20 YEARS, AND YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO DOUBLE YOUR LIFE SAVINGS - The "golden age" of stock market returns is over. CANADA'S BOEING CHALLENGER JUST MADE A BLOCKBUSTER DEAL WITH DELTA - Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier just won a blockbuster deal: 75 firm orders for its C-series jet by Delta Airlines. THE $120 MILLION PENTHOUSE ONCE OWNED BY THE 'KING OF WALL STREET' JUST BECAME NEW YORK CITY'S MOST EXPENSIVE HOME - If you want to live like a king, now's your chance. Join the conversation about this story »


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EU warns Greek deal delay will harm economy

The EU's top economic official called Thursday for a rapid end to talks over Greece's bailout, warning that failure to reach agreement soon would further harm the country's debt-wracked economy. The warning by Pierre Moscovici, European Commissioner for ...


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Let's Talk Wine: Celebrating GREECE

There were many festivals in celebration of Dionysus and the tradition of festivals still holds in GREECE. Here, in the U.S., they are called “glendis” or ...


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Tusk rejects GREECE'S call for emergency summit on bailout deal

On Twitter, Tusk agreed renewed uncertainty for GREECE should be avoided. However, he has not called a summit, stating instead that a date for a ...


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The massive shift taking place in investing might just be a fad

[vanilla ice]Reed Saxon Investing can seem all about what's happening now — stock moves, Federal Reserve decisions, data releases. In reality, that's more of day-to-day trading. Much of investing is a slow burn — retirement plans, reallocating every year or so, buy and hold. So when things do shift in the investing world it can feel monumental. This is exactly what's happening now with the shift to lower fees, passive management, and exchange-traded funds. As we've noted before, more and more retail investors are pulling their money from actively managed mutual funds and putting money in low-cost ETFs. This epic nature of the move makes it seem as if the old is going extinct and this is a secular shift. Not quite, says Gary Klopfenstein, the CEO of Berenberg Asset Management, the management branch of the world's second-oldest bank still in existence. "I don't think it's going to be a permanent change," Klopfenstein told Business Insider recently. "These sorts of things are a kind of pendulum, and right now it's swinging in that direction, but it always swings back the other way." To be fair, Berenberg is an active manager that manages $40 billion, so the shift to low-cost passive is not great business for Klopfenstein. And he did agree that it may change the game somewhat. "I don't necessarily think it will come back completely the other way," he said. "People have recognized the benefits of things like ETFs and passive holdings, but eventually they will recognize that active managers can and do consistently produce alpha." Klopfenstein compared the move to passive to other investing trends. He told us: It's similar to the move to more international investments from say 2004 to 2014. Why? Well the [US] dollar was weak, and so those investments outside of the US tended to make more money so it looked like there was incremental added value. Then 2014 and 2015 happen and all of a sudden it's not such a good idea. Did that create a movement out of global investing? A little bit, yeah. The counterpoint to this is an argument made by Meb Faber of Cambria Investment Management. "Once people pay less for a product, why would they ever go back?" Faber said in an interview in April. The idea being that once people pay less for passive strategies and realize the impact on performance of fees there will be no shift back, leading to a generational shift away from active managers. [mutual funds and etf AUM COTD 2]Reed Saxon Klopfenstein says part of the shift is due to the current market environment. Many active managers have failed to hit their benchmarks as markets have stayed mainly flat for the past year or so. This came after a yearlong rally that made it hard to differentiate between managers. Those factors led many to switch to passive, lower-cost strategies. This may change if instability seizes the market again. "I think the movement into passive ETFs and things like that has changed the bottom, the baseline," Klopfenstein said. "Whatever that is, it's raised it, but I do think when you start to see the volatility in the market come back you'll see the pendulum swing back [to active]." This is a glimmer of hope for active managers, since investors have been shown to chase performance. So if active strategies begin to outperform the market, money should flow back to firms like Berenberg. The massive, slow-moving march to low-cost passive investing certainly isn't going to switch on a dime, but it doesn't mean it will last forever. NOW WATCH: FORMER GREEK FINANCE MINISTER: The single largest threat to the global economy


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Warren Buffett brilliantly explains how bubbles are formed

Warren Buffett brilliantly explains how bubbles are formed NOW WATCH: FORMER GREEK FINANCE MINISTER: The single largest threat to the global economy


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15 of the healthiest fast-food menu items

[Fast Food Sugar 11]Hollis Johnson Heading to McDonald's for a healthy lunch might not sound like an easy task. But it can be. We checked out the lunch and breakfast fare at dozens of on-the-go restaurants — from Chik-Fil-A to Wendy's to Starbucks— to give you a simple guide to some of the healthiest items they offer. All of the choices we picked pack less than 500 calories, are fairly low in saturated fat and cholesterol, and include 15 or more grams of protein to keep you feeling full. Check out these sandwiches, salads, bowls and burgers for a lighter on-the-go option: CHIPOTLE — CHICKEN BURRITO BOWL WITH BROWN RICE & PINTO BEANS, NO CHEESE OR SOUR CREAM — 500 CALORIES Chipotle Chipotle has lots of fresh, healthier options. In general, nix the cheese and sour cream (an occasional dollop of guac is fine, since it's packed with healthy fats), and go for deconstructed alternatives to their burritos, like this one, which has: 500 CALORIES — not too low, not too high  42G OF PROTEIN — a hefty amount to strengthen muscles and fill you up 13.5G OF FAT — a little on the high side 57G OF CARBS — roughly one-third of your recommended daily allowance 805MG OF SODIUM — a little less than half your recommended daily allowance STARBUCKS — SPINACH AND FETA WRAP — 290 CALORIES Hollis Johnson While the yummy pastries at Starbucks are sure to catch your eye mid-afternoon, sugary muffins and scones can leave you hangry. Their hot breakfast items, like this wrap, are likely a healthier, more filling anytime meal, with: 290 CALORIES — pretty low as far as lunch goes; pair with a high-protein side like plain greek yogurt 19G OF PROTEIN — a pretty good amount to strengthen muscles and fill you up 10G OF FAT — not too low, not too high 33G OF CARBS — pretty high; replace sugary or carb-heavy snacks with protein-rich ones 830MG OF SODIUM — just under half your daily allowance IN-N-OUT — CHEESEBURGER WITH ONION, KETCHUP, AND MUSTARD, NO SPREAD — 480 CALORIES Melia Robinson/Business Insider You don't have to turn to the secret menu (we're lookin' at you, Protein-Style fans) to get a lighter option at In-N-Out. Swap the special sauce for some ketchup and mustard to slash some fat and calories, and opt for a regular burger instead of a Double-Double. 480 CALORIES — not too high, not too low 22G OF PROTEIN — a good amount to strengthen muscles and fill you up 27G OF FAT — on the high side (a little less than half your daily allowance) 41G OF CARBS — roughly 14% of your recommended daily allowance 1080MG OF SODIUM — close to half your recommended daily allowance SEE THE REST OF THE STORY AT BUSINESS INSIDER


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Gold is surging (GLD, GLX)

Gold headed towards its highest close in over a year on Thursday. Futures in the precious metal gained as much as 1.25%, or $16.75 an ounce, to as high as $1,268.45, the highest since last March. This was a part of a broader rally in precious metals that pushed silver to the best levels in about a year, up 1.48% to $17.615 an ounce.  The big news in markets Thursday came out of Japan, where the central bank unexpectedly held fire on more stimulus and made no changes to its asset-purchasing program. This sparked a sell-off in global equities and US futures.  On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve held off on raising interest rates as expected, while giving no clear indication of its intention to raise rates as soon as its meeting in June.  Here's a chart showing gold's rise:[Screen Shot 2016 04 28 at 12.03.42 PM]Investing.com Separately, in a note Thursday, RBC Capital Markets highlighted risks to the gold rally, following the latest GFMS survey which showed soft physical demand.  "Despite the investor led rally in gold prices at the beginning of the year, the lack of physical follow-through is a fundamental reason for why we think sustained gold bulls will be disappointed by year-end," wrote RBC's Helima Croft and team. "Absent a large and unforeseen risk-off move driving gold higher, we think that prices likely have already peaked this year." NOW WATCH: FORMER GREEK FINANCE MINISTER: The single largest threat to the global economy


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Warren Buffett isn't super excited that I'm a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder (BRK.A, BRK.B)

[Warren Buffett frown]Jim Young/Reuters I own a little bit of Berkshire Hathaway stock.  As of Thursday morning the Class B shares I own were trading around $147 a share and have 1/1,500 the value of originally-floated Class A stock that now trades closer to $221,000 per share. And because I'm not a good investor, I am losing money on this position. (I mean, outside of my Berkshire shares I only put money into a 401(k) so like, I guess I'm not really an investor at all. Either way.) Warren Buffett, however, never really wanted a little guy like me to be able to get a slice of his company: a small investor in Pennsylvania forced his hand. Writing in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Anupreeta Das caught up with Samuel Katz, who back in the 1990s wanted to create a "unit investment trust" to track Berkshire shares at a price that would make the stock more accessible to smaller investors. At the time, Berkshire shares were trading near $33,000 a piece, which regardless of the era is prohibitively expensive for most investors to acquire even a single share. But Buffett was very much not enthused about the idea of someone trying to imitate Berkshire's performance and do so in a way that would be profitable not necessarily for the investors, but for the marketers of this alternative investment. Writing in his 1996 letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, Buffett said the May 1996 Class B offering was made, "in response to the threatened creation of unit trusts that would have marketed themselves as Berkshire look-alikes. In the process, they would have used our past, and definitely nonrepeatable, record to entice naive small investors and would have charged these innocents high fees and commissions." Buffett is also clearly not a fan even to this day, telling Das, "I'm glad Sam made money out of Berkshire through ownership rather than through obtaining high fees from unsophisticated investors." Which translates to: I spent a lot of time and energy making sure this guy wasn't a leach, which is a real bummer. In the 1996 letter, Buffett said that the sale of B shares, "provided a low-cost way for people to invest in Berkshire if they still wished to after hearing the warnings we issued." These warnings include the prospectus for Class B shares in which Buffett told people NOT to buy the offering: the stock was, in his view, overvalued. And so not only was floating a "low-cost" version of Berkshire stock not Buffett's preferred plan, but those who bought the initial offering were doing the very thing he made his fortune _not_ doing: buying a company trading above its intrinsic value. The main theme, however, of Buffett's clear lack of enthusiasm for the Class B stock is his continued insistence that Wall Street is not a place where people make money for investors but collect fees for themselves. In the 1996 letter, Buffett added (emphasis mine): I think it would have been quite easy for such trusts to have sold many billions of dollars worth of units, and I also believe that early marketing successes by these trusts would have led to the formation of others. (IN THE SECURITIES BUSINESS, WHATEVER CAN BE SOLD WILL BE SOLD.) THE TRUSTS WOULD HAVE MEANWHILE INDISCRIMINATELY POURED THE PROCEEDS OF THEIR OFFERINGS INTO A SUPPLY OF BERKSHIRE SHARES THAT IS FIXED AND LIMITED. THE LIKELY RESULT: A SPECULATIVE BUBBLE IN OUR STOCK. For at least a time, the price jump would have been self-validating, in that it would have pulled new waves of naive and impressionable investors into the trusts and set off still more buying of Berkshire shares. The implication that the investment business is merely a place for the few to make money off intermediating the many, however, has rankled some on Wall Street who argue that in a world of full hypocrites and marketers, Buffett himself is the biggest of them all. NOW WATCH: FORMER GREEK FINANCE MINISTER: The single largest threat to the global economy


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GBR Consulting Reports Greek Hospitality Industry Performance 1st Quarter 2016 (PDF Download)

… recovery is expected, contingent on Greece implementing the necessary structural reforms … . GBR Consulting is a leading Greek business consultant firm. GBR Consulting … Sekeri Street, 106 74 Athens, Greece T (+30) 210 36 05 …


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Nepali abducted in Greece; rescued by Nepal, Greek police

KATHMANDU: Police of Nepal and Greece recently rescued a Nepali man … Nepali woman in Athens of Greece. Nepal Police said the 24-year-old … information to Greek Police via the Interpol. Besides tipping-off the Greek security …


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Clearing customs

SERHAN TURKOGLU stands outside one of Istanbul’s many visa-application bureaus, clutching his flight and hotel bookings, travel insurance, proof of employment, social-security registration, recent salary slips and bank statements, and a vehicle licence. Mr Turkoglu, an accountant, needs all of this simply to secure a holiday visa to Spain. For his next European holiday he will have to go through the whole rigmarole again. “It makes you feel like a second-class citizen,” he says. Turkish diplomacy towards the European Union is focused on obtaining visa-free travel. It is easy to see why. Turkey has been negotiating to accede to the EU for more than a decade; it is the only candidate country whose citizens still need visas to enter the bloc’s Schengen area. Peruvians, Malaysians and Mexicans, by contrast, no longer need visas to travel there. Europe’s panic in the face of mass migration from the Middle East has provided Turkey with a new opening. In March, in exchange for a pledge to re-admit thousands of migrants deported from Greece, the EU offered Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the country’s president, €6 billion ($6.8 billion) in aid,...


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White House Backs IMF Push for More Austerity in Greece

The White House has backed calls for Greece to continue to implement widespread austerity measures, following President Obama’s meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier this week. Greece and its international creditors are once again ...


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“We Were Elected to Say No to the Creditors”: Varoufakis on Resigning as Greek Finance Minister

The International Monetary Fund is demanding additional austerity measures from Greece if it does not hit its budget targets. It’s the latest impasse in years of fierce political clashes between Greece and international creditors. We are joined by a man ...


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Sorority members discuss relationship between feminism and GREEK life

Javay Frye, a senior hospitality management and media arts and design double major and member of Delta Gamma, describes herself as a feminist.


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Actress Lea Michele discovers her GREEK-Jewish roots

(JTA) — “Glee” star Lea Michele took a deeper look at her GREEK-Jewish roots on the TLC television series “Who Do You Think You Are?” The episode ...


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Former GREEK Finance Minister: Massive IMF Bailouts are "Ponzi Austerity" Scheme

As the White House is backing calls for Greece to continue to implement widespread austerity measures, we spend the hour with former GREEK ...


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2,680 Refugees in Piraeus Port

The number of refugees and migrants currently in Piraeus port is 2,680. According to Greek media, 300 people are expected to be transferred to the Skaramangas accommodation center. On Thursday morning, three ships with 52 refugees and migrants arrived at the country’s biggest port. The ferry “Prevelis” carried six people from Rhodes, the ferry “Blue Start 1”


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Four-Year-Old Greek Boy Needs Financial Help For Medical Expenses

Four-year-old Konstantinos Kotsonis is suffering from a level-four neuroblastoma in the left suprarenal gland with metastasis to the bones and marrow. The diagnosis occurred in June 2014 by Ippokrateio Hospital in Thessaloniki and ever since the boy has been giving his battle with the disease, without losing, however, his cheer and child innocence. Doctors at the


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Greek Foreign Ministry Calls on Turkey to Protect Christian Churches in Istanbul

Greece’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it has been informed about cases of provocative acts in Christian churches in Istanbul. “In view of the Easter holidays, we expect the Turkish authorities to honor their relevant commitments and take all necessary measures to protect the Christian churches and ensure that the faithful can participate unhindered in


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Meet Greece’s Under 40 CEOs Making a Name for Themselves Despite the Crisis

As the Greek government is still in negotiations with the European “institutions,” the continued Syrian civil war and conflicts in the Middle East and Northern Africa continue to send an influx of refugees and migrants to the country, and the IMF as well as other international supporters continue to imply that Greece needs assistance in order to leverage its


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Yanis Varoufakis: Bailouts of Greece are Pretense for Massive Payout for German and French Banks

We continue our conversation with former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis as the White House is backing calls for Greece to continue to implement widespread austerity measures, following President Obama’s meeting with German Chancellor Angela ...


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Stocks are going nowhere (SPY, DJI, IXIC)

[agagagaga] Stock opened lower on Thursday after a stunning policy decision by the Bank of Japan.  In early trading, they rose a bit, with the Dow down 52 points, the S&P 500 down 2 points, and the Nasdaq green, up 8 points.  To recap the big news of the day so far, the Bank of Japan shocked markets after it held off on adding stimulus to the economy by leaving interest rates and its asset-purchasing programme unchanged. Mike van Dulken at Accendo Markets commented in a note, "This has undone all of the supportive work and positive response from what its US counterpart (the Fed) had to say yesterday evening where a solid  balancing act of less worries about external headwinds offsetting weaker US data allowed it to maintain its dovish stance." The yen surged after the BOJ's decision, hitting as low as 107.93 against the dollar (or 2.9%.) In economic data, the advance GDP estimate showed that the economy grew 0.5% in the first quarter, weaker than expected.  And, initial jobless claims totaled 257,000 last week, less than expected.  SEE ALSO: ABBOTT LABS IS BUYING ST. JUDE MEDICAL FOR $25 BILLION SEE ALSO: HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING IN FX Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: FORMER GREEK FINANCE MINISTER: The single largest threat to the global economy


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Lenders, Greece close to agree reforms, contingency steps need more work-EU

Euro zone finance ministers pencilled in an extraordinary meeting on Thursday to sign off on the deal with Athens and discuss Greek debt relief, but the meeting was cancelled because of insufficient progress towards a deal. European Commissioner for ...


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GREECE Requests For EU Summit Amid Fruitless Bailout Negotiations

Donald Tusk, President of the European Union Council, has been resisting GREECE'S demand for an emergency leaders' summit on its troubled bailout ...


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Refugee welcome begins to wear thin in Greece

Greece has stood apart from many European countries in welcoming refugees from the very beginning of the crisis. With borders now closed, Greeks' hospitality may be coming to an end. Omaira Gill reports from Athens.


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Thursday's big GDP report can say anything you want about the US economy

[jon snowe game of thrones]HBO. The US economy grew at a slower pace than expected to start 2016.  But that is only a guess and really, what we learned on Thursday morning amounts to a whole bunch of not much.  At an annualized rate, GDP grew 0.5% in the first three months of 2016. Thursday's report, however, was merely the first of three estimates that Bureau of Economic Analysis will put out on the quarter. And then after these revisions new methods of calculating this figure could see even more revisions down the line.  Simply put, we have an _idea_ of what happened in the US economy over given periods, but it will take years to get a clear picture of what happened. And even then.  Over the last several months, incoming data has clearly painted a picture of a US economy that is doing good but not great. Consumption trends are decent, manufacturing is recovering, the housing market is improving but still pressuring low-end buyers, while the labor market is strong though wages aren't picking up as the Federal Reserve might hope.  Thursday's report confirmed this view. But this is my view! Others will say that Thursday's report is the beginning of a trend that will see the US economy eventually tip into the recession that is of course already here _if only we could see it_. Which, fine. Also a view. And there are more to be had. But whether GDP is revised up or down, the change from the first to the third estimate the change is usually 0.6%. This is a big range! History says, then, that in time we might learn the US economy grew 1.1% to start the year or contracted 0.1%. Or more! Or less! Who knows! [Screen Shot 2016 04 28 at 8.58.36 AM]HBO. Last year, we wrote that economists have asked whether the BEA's seasonal adjustment process for the first quarter is broken given that Q1 GDP has been below-trend for the last five years, with this year marking a sixth.  And in a blog post last year the BEA outlined how the various GDP estimates come together, with the BEA noting that 45% of the first estimate is based on surveys or data that are subject to revision with another 14% of the estimate based on historical trends.  Or, as the BEA cautions at the top of its release, "The Bureau emphasized that the first-quarter advance estimate released today is based on source data that are incomplete or subject to further revision by the source agency." So we probably don't know enough about the economy to definitely know something about the economy, but we've got some ideas. Which means everyone gets to be right.  NOW WATCH: FORMER GREEK FINANCE MINISTER: The single largest threat to the global economy


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Facebook is soaring 10% after its dynamite earnings

[mark zuckerberg]Facebook is flying high Thursday morning after posting stronger than expected earnings. As of the market open shares of the social media giant are up just over 10% at $119.79. The high-flying move comes the day after the company crushed profit, revenue, and user growth expectations. From top to bottom, the earnings looked incredible strong with mobile users and revenue still increasing and engagement picking up. Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg also proposed a new class of stock, a non-voting class C, that would raise more capital while also assuring Zuckerberg control of the company for the foreseeable future. The move still has to be approved by the current shareholders. Video growth was also strong, especially on the company's Instagram platform. Add all that good news up, and you get the 10% bump. [Screen Shot 2016 04 28 at 9.35.20 AM]David Ramos/Getty Images NOW WATCH: FORMER GREEK FINANCE MINISTER: The single largest threat to the global economy


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