View: Meet The Troika (BDI in Greece) - Slope Of Hope with Tim Knight

 Greetings Slope Heads....

I am back from Greece, where I had a very enjoyable month off.  I stayed at the Athens Hilton, which as you can see, has a magnificent pool surrounded by cascading fuchsia bougainvillea, and majestic palm trees.  In order to really appreciate the much needed R&R, I had solemnly sworn to myself & my girl friend, that I would not think nor bring up the financial markets during our entire stay.  Furthermore, any discussion of global economics was also strictly off limits, the only exception permitted was reading a Martin Spring technical analysis book by the pool. 

However, as is often the case with the best of intentions, something very unexpected occurred at the hotel which totally foiled my resolve.  Of all things, serendipity would have it that members of the Troika were also staying at the very same Hilton!  For those of you not familiar with the term Troika, it is slang for the bank supervisors from the IMF / ECB / EU which have been tasked to inspect & audit Greece's fraudulent & grossly over extended budget.  My girl friend actually initiated the first contact with the Troika.  In the elevator heading to the lobby, she was captivated by a striking, tall, and very elegant european gentleman wearing a sharp business suit, much to my annoyance she engaged him in conversation.  Small talk ensued, and to my great surprise, he told us that he was a banking supervisor from Germany, and part of the Troika team which was currently pouring over Greece's deceptive books. 

Well, needless to say, being the Macro junkie that I am, I immediately began to pick his brain, and did so on a regular basis throughout our stay.  I think the guy actually got a little tired of me towards the end, as he would quickly run off to his meetings shortly after I engaged him.  So much for BDI's pledge to exclude any market related brain waves during his otherwise blissful holiday:-) 

Stay tuned, Evil Plan 7.0 will be drafted tomorrow, and the little I learned from meeting the Troika banking supervisor will be in the plan.............  

Photos from Greece:

The Temple of Poseidon          (please click thumbnails to view high resolution images)

Syntagma Square                            The French Embassy                       The very first Olympic Stadium

Random Contemporary Buildings of Athens

Older Buildings of Athens

Doors of Athens

Museum Cycladic Art

Alpha Bank Head Office

Villas in affluent section of Kifissia

Palace Guards goose walking            Riot Police on break                      Taxi cabs waiting

Ancient Greek Churches                                                                      Orthodox Priest Statue

Trees of Athens

Grande Bretagne Hotel                    Typical Athens Apartments               WW2 Fighter Jet

Stay tuned, Evil Plan 7.0 will be drafted tomorrow, and the little I learned from meeting the Troika banking supervisor will be in the plan............. 

 By BDI Idiot Savant