News for today's 2018

ARGENTINA: HEDGE FUNDS HAVE NOT WON YET

3:47 AM Tukiyooo 0

<br /> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaVr_aSjfMFP38zTHAJUB7MJ1lxlVvtuh8h6kpEbtfvRGvYhwVP31YorXvzX-TKRT5kRdWH1ciclzfKd7D0dEUaOobKNpY7TFKV28rkjguQ9QzM1x2FXoeuNhPkv7qNkobiodLZ5vsjNz_/s1600/vultures.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaVr_aSjfMFP38zTHAJUB7MJ1lxlVvtuh8h6kpEbtfvRGvYhwVP31YorXvzX-TKRT5kRdWH1ciclzfKd7D0dEUaOobKNpY7TFKV28rkjguQ9QzM1x2FXoeuNhPkv7qNkobiodLZ5vsjNz_/s320/vultures.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="hps"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ELLIOT CAPITAL HEDGE FUNDS, A CLIENT AND SHAREHOLDER OF FITCH <span style="font-size: x-large;">RATING AGENCY?</span></span></b></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="hps"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">  </span></b></span></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b>ARGENTINA</b><span class="hps"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"></span></b></span><span class="shorttext"><b><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;">: </span></b></span><span class="hps"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">"HEDGE FUNDS</span></b></span><span class="shorttext"><b><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></b></span><span class="hps"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">HAVE</span></b></span><span class="shorttext"><b><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></b></span><span class="hps"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">NOT WON YET</span></b></span><span class="shorttext"><b><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;">"</span></b></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It is not a coincident that US Rating Agencies only recently downgraded Argentina significantly, just in time when the verdict regarding Elliot Capital Hedge funds, versus Argentina is about to go in its final round. After all Hedge Funds are the best clients of Rating Agencies and in the case of Fitch rating, who downgrade Argentina, even shareholders. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The verdict and downgrading is part of a power struggle between the International Financial Institutions and Argentina. In 2001 Argentina defaulted, largely because of IMF doctrines, since then the country learned its lesson, paid back its entire dept to the IMF and thus was not subjected to IMF austerity doctrines, something the IMF is still furious about. Thus the IMF currently is entering its second round of in-flight, penalizing Argentina for not letting <span style="font-size: large;">it</span> conduct an audit in how Argentina obtains its economic data. If Argentina would nicely and unquestionably adhere to the rules of these institutions<span style="font-size: large;">,</span> the entire case would look somewhat different.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The entire showdown is revenge by international financial institutions simply because Argentina does not adhered to their doctrines which would enable them to control <span style="font-size: large;">Argentina's</span> Economy and its agriculture commodities. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b>ARGENTINA</b><span class="hps"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"></span></b></span><span class="shorttext"><b><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;">: </span></b></span><span class="hps"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">"HEDGE FUNDS</span></b></span><span class="shorttext"><b><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></b></span><span class="hps"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">HAVE</span></b></span><span class="shorttext"><b><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></b></span><span class="hps"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">NOT WON YET</span></b></span><span class="shorttext"><b><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;">"</span></b></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="shorttext" style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;">Interview conducted by "Der Standard", an Austrian Daily Newspaper with Economist </span></span><span class="shorttext"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small; line-height: 115%;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Andres</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"> <span class="hps">Musacchio</span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">If the</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"> <span class="hps">U.S. hedge fund</span> wins the legal battle <span class="hps">against</span> <span class="hps">Argentina, it would have</span> <span class="hps">consequences</span> <span class="hps">for Europe</span> <span class="hps">itself</span></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">STANDARD</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">: <span class="hps">The U.S.</span> <span class="hps">hedge fund</span> <span class="hps">Elliott Capital</span> <span class="hps">sued</span> <span class="hps">Argentina</span> <span class="hps">before</span> <span class="hps">a New York court</span>. <span class="hps">Why is the case</span> <span class="hps">attracting so much</span> <span class="hps">worldwide attention</span>?</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Musacchio: Because the verdict could have enormous <span style="font-size: large;">repercussions </span>on future sovereign debt crises. The hedge fund has bought Argentine bonds after 2001, after the country officially declared default. After its bankruptcy, Argentina has taken tedious agreements with its creditors to reduce the national debt. 97 per cent of investors agreed to the countries dept conversion, both in 2005<span style="font-size: large;"> an<span style="font-size: large;">d</span> 2010</span>. But Elliott Capital refused. If the hedge fund in New York wins its case and Argentina has to pay back most of its debt to Elliott, it would be tantamount to the premium for uncooperative behavior.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">STANDARD</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">: <span class="hps">The hedge fund</span> <span class="hps">has</span> never <span class="hps">agreed to</span> <span class="hps">the dept conversion</span>: <span class="hps">Legally,</span> <span class="hps">the lawsuit</span> seems questionable.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Musacchio: Elliott Capital is not a conventional lender, which borrowed Argentina money and now needs to reclaim its money. The hedge fund has bought the debt at a time when the securities were traded in the market with 15 percent of their actual value. Now they demand from Argentina to pay back 100 percent of the sum, including interest. <b>This is speculation in its purest form</b>, and I believe that even in this extreme case the financial industry will side with Argentina.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">STANDARD: Why?</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br />Musacchio: Because in case the hedge funds win, it would jeopardize all future debt relief<span style="font-size: large;">s</span>. The purpose of dept relief is that the creditors of a financially constrained country waive some of their demands in order to not lose everything. If, it shows that it does not pay off to participate in a debt conversion, future creditors will refuse from the beginning to agree to negotiate for settlement. Particularly in Europe, one expects that Greece and soon Portugal, Ireland and perhaps Spain have also to conduct a dept conversion, which would have disastrous consequences.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">STANDARD</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">: <span class="hps">Why</span> does <span class="hps">the Argentine government</span> not simply drawback <span class="hps">and pay the fund, after all it’s only about</span><span class="hps">one billion</span> Euros, surely Argentina could <span class="hps">afford this amount?</span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /><span class="hps">Musacchio</span>: <span class="hps">The amount is not</span> <span class="hps">the issue.</span> Last year <span class="hps">Argentina</span> <span class="hps">paid back</span> <span class="hps"><span style="font-size: large;">a </span>debt of</span><span class="hps">25 billion euros</span>, thus paying <span class="hps">the</span><span class="hps">billion</span> <span style="font-size: large;">is</span> <span class="hps">affordable.</span><span class="hps">But there</span> <span class="hps">is a moral question</span>: <span class="hps">For</span> <span class="hps">President Cristina</span> <span class="hps">Kirchner, dept </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span class="hps"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">relief</span></span> policies</span> are <span class="hps">the</span> <span class="hps">main components of</span> her <span class="hps">governing</span> <span class="hps">strategy</span>.<br /><br /><span class="hps"></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">STANDARD: How</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> <span class="hps">do you think</span> <span class="hps">the lawsuit will end</span>? <span class="hps">Argentina</span> <span class="hps">was</span> <span class="hps">sentenced</span><span class="hps">to pay the amount, but achieved</span> <span class="hps">a delay until March</span>.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcd-VJSEVDmN_GA6Z4Mf-8rTUy3quPBPTlfLat3R5RsIm-fp5AWslROciRqs1V66ZYKahX3CmmhxYrcevbumXhONUWqsMSn_IE6pTTNN2W23RRYaZtxS0KgTKDRfV4GL_BVY2Y0EZVfaXk/s1600/symbol+verdict.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcd-VJSEVDmN_GA6Z4Mf-8rTUy3quPBPTlfLat3R5RsIm-fp5AWslROciRqs1V66ZYKahX3CmmhxYrcevbumXhONUWqsMSn_IE6pTTNN2W23RRYaZtxS0KgTKDRfV4GL_BVY2Y0EZVfaXk/s320/symbol+verdict.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Musacchio: Nothing has been decided yet. The hedge fund has not won. Cristina Kirchner during the pending lawsuit several times stated that Argentina will not pay Elliott Capital, even if Argentina should lose the trial in New York. This statement infuriated the New York judge, which is why he set bail for Argentina to pay. Since Kirchner refused to pay the bail, it could easily happen that Argentina's payments to its other creditors - with whom there are no disputes – will be seized. That would technically mean bankruptcy for the country. Whether that happens remains to be seen in March when the next court decision is due.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br />STANDARD: Can EU countries learn something from Argentina's debt relief policy?<br /><br /></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Musacchio: I believe that these countries will not advance if they don’t obtain a debt relief. Just as was the case in Argentina in 2001, the debts of the countries in question are too high. The real lesson from the Argentine crisis is however that the debt relief restructuring alone will not solve the problem. The debt conversion was only a first step to correct the balances of the current accounts.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">STANDARD</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">: <span class="hps">What</span>'s the second step?</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><br /><span class="hps">Musacchio</span>: <span class="hps">After the restructuring</span><span class="hps">the</span> <span class="hps">Argentine peso</span> <span class="hps">depreciated</span> <span class="hps">massively</span>, <span class="hps">the</span><span class="hps">government launched</span> <span class="hps">a program for the</span> <span class="hps">re-industrialization</span> <span class="hps">of the country</span> <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">tried</span> <span class="hps">to revive the</span> <span class="hps">internal market</span>. <span class="hps">All these measures</span> <span class="hps">have stabilized the</span> <span class="hps">economy</span> <span class="hps">and ensured</span> <span class="hps">that growth</span> <span class="hps">returned</span>. <span class="hps">The difference to</span><span class="hps">Europe</span> <span class="hps">is that</span> <span class="hps">Argentina</span><span class="hps">for a while</span> was <span class="hps">able to isolate</span> itself <span class="hps">from the rest</span> <span class="hps">of the world</span> <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">thus managed to overcome the crisis</span>. For t<span class="hps">he southern European countries</span> this will be <span class="hps">difficult</span>: <span class="hps">Spain and Portugal</span> <span class="hps">are</span> <span class="hps">much too dependent on</span> <span class="hps">exports</span> <span class="hps">to Germany than</span>, for example, <span class="hps">Argentina and its</span> <span class="hps">trade</span> <span class="hps">relations with the U.S</span>. Furthermore <span class="hps">relations between banks in Europe are</span> <span class="hps">much tighter.</span> <span class="hps">I think that</span> <span class="hps">an important</span> <span class="hps">step</span> <span class="hps">for the stabilization</span> <span class="hps">of the euro zone w<span style="font-size: large;">ill</span> be that</span> <span class="hps">Germany</span> <span class="hps">finally</span> <span class="hps">abandons its</span> <span class="hps">policy of</span> <span class="hps">wage competition</span>. <span class="hps">The purchasing power</span> of<span class="hps"> Germany</span> has to<span class="hps"> increase</span>; <span class="hps">the country</span> should not only<span class="hps"> export</span> to <span class="hps">the</span> <span class="hps">troubled</span><span class="hps">southern European countries</span>, <span class="hps">but</span> also increase its <span class="hps">imports</span>. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="hps"><i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">By </span></i></span><i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">András <span class="hps">Szigetvári</span> via <span class="hps"><span style="font-size: large;">DER</span> STANDARD</span>, (Austrian Daily Newspaper, Translated from German to English by Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring )</span></i></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="hps"><i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Andres</span></i></span><i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"> <span class="hps">Musacchio,</span><span class="hps">is an economist</span> <span class="hps">at the Institute for</span><span class="hps">Economic and Social</span> <span class="hps">History at the University</span> <span class="hps">of</span> <span class="hps">Buenos Aires</span>. <span class="hps">He was</span> <span class="hps">a guest</span> <span class="hps">at</span><span class="hps">the Austrian Research</span> <span class="hps">Foundation for International Development</span> <span class="hps">(</span>ÖFSE), where he gave a speech regarding the<span class="hps"> Argentine crisis.</span></span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="266" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jsmMKmOZDRg?feature=player_embedded" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="320"></iframe></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Argentinian Central Bank Targets Growth, Not Lower Inflation </span></h1><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Background:</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fitch downgrades Argentina in the wake of Elliot Capital Hedge Funds lawsuit against Argentina</span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fitch Ratings agency announced it has downgraded Argentina's long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating from “B” to “CC,” with a negative outlook, as it sees a “probable default” if the country misses its payment to holdout investors.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The agency stated in a communiqué that “the increased probability that Argentina will not service its restructured debt securities issued under New York law on a timely basis reflects US District Judge Griesa's decision on Nov. 21 to remove the stay order on the ruling that Argentina must pay 1.33 billion dollars to holdout investors concurrent with or prior to its payments due to holders of the 2005 and 2010 restructured debt.”</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fitch assured that a missed payment could lead to a “cross default on all exchanged debt securities issued under international law.”</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“A missed coupon payment of any other external securities would also trigger a cross default on all exchanged bonds issued under international law,” it continued.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fearing Argentina will disobey his order, Griesa wants 1.33 billion deposited in a US escrow account by Dec. 15 to ensure payment if all appeals trying to overturn or block his decisions fail.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The “holdout” investors are suing to recover the full value of bonds that Argentina stopped paying in 2002, setting up a battle with the country's government which brands them as “vulture funds” and has refused to pay them.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fitch put a negative outlook on the credit which is two steps away from outright default.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Argentina has vowed not to pay the holdout investors, led by Elliott Management's NML Capital Ltd and Aurelius Capital Management, prompting Griesa to order the payment be made before the 2nd Circuit rules on his decision.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fitch highlighted Argentina's 2005 “Lock Law” which prohibits “re-opening the exchange or from conducting any type of settlement with holdouts without prior authorization from Congress” as a likely reason that payment will not be made.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">If no payment is made a technical default would ensue, with uncertainty remaining over treatment of credit default swap contracts, which have surged in prices as investors scramble for protection from a default or restructuring.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“The uncertainty related to the impact of the US Court ruling is likely to further damage confidence and intensify political and social tensions in the country and undermine growth prospects,” Fitch said in its statement.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“While the authorities have been able to stabilize international reserves by progressively tightening capital controls, this has come at the expense of increased economic distortions. The sustainability of this strategy is also vulnerable to international commodity prices, especially soy,” Fitch said.</span></span></div>

ARGENTINA: HEDGE FUNDS HAVE NOT WON YET

ELLIOT CAPITAL HEDGE FUNDS, A CLIENT AND SHAREHOLDER OF FITCH RATING AGENCY? ARGENTINA : "HEDGE FUNDS HAVE NOT WON YET " It...

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 02/14/2013

1:30 AM Tukiyooo 0

<ul class="diigo-linkroll">      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blog/gettysburg-address-common-core-standards-todd-finley?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EdutopiaNewContent+%28Edutopia%29&utm_content=Google+Reader">The Gettysburg Address: Literary Nonfiction and the Common Core | Edutopia</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">A nice reflection on what is happening to reading with Common Core. I find the overemphasis on literary nonfiction problematic, unless, the fact that math and history are primarily nonfiction allows literature to remain 60-70% fiction, however, for those schools who just have "reading" in literature (that would be sad), this is going to have issues.  This is a great read.  "The CCSS mandates that by the end of high school, 70% of what students read should be informational texts -- specifically, complex and non-narrative literary nonfiction. Furthermore, students should be able to identify central ideas and articulate their development, summarize, analyze, draw inferences, identify an author's purpose, evaluate the effectiveness of rhetorical features, and figure out the meaning of words. In short, the CCSS has reclaimed a technique popular in the 1940s, close reading, or sustained interpretation of, in particular, the wording of a text."</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/commoncore">commoncore</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/literature">literature</a></p>                                        </li>  </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='https://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher'>here</a>.</p>

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 02/14/2013

The Gettysburg Address: Literary Nonfiction and the Common Core | Edutopia A nice reflection on what...

New Photos of Kate Middleton Spark Royal Outrage

11:30 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div class="headline-author" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: Georgia; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 92px;"><div style="border: 0px; clear: both; color: #888888; font: inherit; line-height: normal; padding: 0px 0px 16px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">By</span> ABC News</div></div><div class="date" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #888888; font-family: Arial; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 3px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 533px;">Feb 13, 2013 2:41pm</div><div class="wp-caption alignnone" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; margin: 10px 0px 0px 110px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 488px;"><img alt="gty middleton mi 130212 wblog New Photos of Kate Middleton Spark Royal Outrage" height="269" src="http://abcnews.go.com/images/Entertainment/gty_middleton_mi_130212_wblog.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" title="An Italian magazine has published photos of a pregnant Kate Middleton wearing a bikini while vacationing on Mustique island in the Caribbean." width="478" /></div><div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ABC News’ Carolyn Durand reports:</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></strong>The same <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/kate-middleton-topless-photos-reportedly-published/story?id=17273174" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 94, 153); color: #30659c; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Italian magazine that last year published photos</a> of<a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2013/01/women-seek-plastic-surgery-to-get-look-of-kate-middletons-nose/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 94, 153); color: #30659c; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"> Kate Middleton </a>reportedly sunbathing topless while on vacation with her husband, Prince William, has now released photos of the now-pregnant Duchess of Cambridge.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Chi published the photos of the 31-year-old Middleton wearing a blue bikini that showed a barely rounded lower belly.  <a href="http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/katepedia-vogue-dissects-kate-middletons-style-143240925--abc-news-fashion-and-beauty.html" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 94, 153); color: #30659c; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Middleton and </a><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/prince-william-spends-news-years-morning-daring-rescue/story?id=18112339" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 94, 153); color: #30659c; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Prince William</a> were on vacation on the exclusive Caribbean island of Mustique in St. Vincent and the Grenadines when the photos were taken.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/kate-middleton-topless-french-court-blocks-photos/story?id=17259192&singlePage=true#.UFoDKpF63To" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 94, 153); color: #30659c; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">READ MORE: French Court Blocks Kate Middleton Topless Photos</a></strong></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">St. James’s Palace, which took media outlets to court last year for the vacation photos, quickly issued a statement denouncing the publication of the photos.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/slideshow/kate-middleton-wimbledon-alexander-mcQueen-12598288" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 94, 153); color: #30659c; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">PHOTOS: The Life and Times of Kate Middleton</a></strong></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“We are disappointed that photographs of the duke and duchess on a private holiday look likely to be published overseas,” a spokesman for the duke and duchess told ABC News.  “This is a clear breach of the couple’s right to privacy.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Chi is published under the Mondadori publishing house owned by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Chi is also the same magazine that, in 1997, published photos of Princess Diana’s dying in a tunnel in Paris after a high-speed car chase with paparazzi that ended in her death at age 36.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Everybody is entitled to privacy, but it’s just different when you’re a royal,” said Victoria Arbiter, royal contributor for ABC News.  “They all crave normality, but they’re not just like everybody else.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://gma.yahoo.com/video/gma-kate-middleton-due-date-080000691.html" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 94, 153); color: #30659c; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">VIDEO: Kate Middleton Due Date Revealed</a></strong></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The British media, as well as ABC News, have declined to publish the new photos of a pregnant Middleton but today the  Australian magazine Woman’s Day says it will follow Chi’s lead and publish the pictures.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“It wasn’t a hard decision to run these photos,” said the magazine’s editor, Fiona Connolly.  “Kate is on a public beach.  There are other holiday-makers there and she looks fabulous.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The island where the royal couple was vacationing, Mustique, prohibits paparazzi.  Middleton and Prince William were also staying in a private villa on private property when the photos were taken.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Middleton, pregnant with the couple’s first child and expected to give birth in July, has only recently begun to show her baby bump after a difficult start to her pregnancy.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2013/01/the-royal-bump-day-by-day/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 94, 153); color: #30659c; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">MORE:  The Royal Bump, Day by Day</a></strong></div></div></div>

Kate Middleton New Photos of Kate Middleton Spark Royal Outrage

By ABC News Feb 13, 2013 2:41pm ABC News’ Carolyn Durand reports: The same Italian magazine that last year published photos of Kate Midd...

Everyone wants an affenpinscher after Westminster win

11:29 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="byline" style="border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">By Emily Jane Fox </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></span><a class="soc-twtname" href="https://twitter.com/intent/user?screen_name=cnnmoney" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-family: Arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">@CNNMoney</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span class="cnnDateStamp" style="border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">February 13, 2013: 2:56 PM ET</span><br /><span class="cnnDateStamp" style="border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/assets/130213053805-affenpinschers-westminster-620xa.jpg" /></span><br /><span class="cnnDateStamp" style="border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Banana Joe became the first affenpinscher to be named Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.</span></span><br /><span class="cnnDateStamp" style="border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /><div class="cnnStorySource" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #999999; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">NEW YORK (CNNMoney)</div><h2 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 21px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 28px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">Banana Joe took home the top award at the <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/12/living/gallery/dog-breeds-westminster/index.html?hpt=hp_bn11&iid=EL" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #004276; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show</a> on Tuesday night. But the real winners may turn out to be dog breeders that sell black-furred, scrunchy-faced affenpinschers, like Joey.</h2><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Within a half hour of the big win, I already had quite a few emails from people looking for affenpinschers," said Jude Daley, president of the Affenpinscher Club of America. She breeds the rare toy dogs in South Hampton, New Hampshire. Her pups go for $2,500 a pop.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">"It is exciting to have people knocking on your door to buy puppies from you," she said.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">It's always a big deal for dog breeds that win the highly coveted "Best in Show" title in New York each year. But it's particularly so for the small, close-knit affenpinscher community.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">Daley said there are about 100 members in the club and only 15 breeders, each of whom don't sell more than a couple of puppies a year.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">Affenpinscher means "monkey terrier'" in German, according to the American Kennel Club, and it is nicknamed "the little devil with a moustache." They have been competing at Westminster for 75 years, but an affen has never taken home the top honors before this year.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">Breeders say affenpinschers go for an average of $2,000. Because the dogs are so rare, breeders often travel out of the country to find suitable mates. This leaves affen-seekers waiting for months or even years.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">"People like that they're rare. Everyone's into owning something that's elite and a little different," Daley said.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">Donna Wolfe, a volunteer with Affenpinscher Rescue, has gotten nearly 10 inquiries about available affens since Tuesday night. Usually, she sees one or two a week.</div><div class="IE_bodyVid" id="vid0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; color: #333333; height: 386px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;"><br /><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">Requests are also flooding in to Lisa Ferris, who has bred affens for 16 years in Kerrville, Tex. She usually sells about one per year for around $1,900. She doesn't plan to increase her price.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">"It's really great for the affen community, but we're going to be protective of our breed and make sure they go to the right owners, and I've always kept my prices steady," she said.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">The wait may be long and the price tag hefty, but Ferris says it's worth it.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">"They're like potato chips: You can never have just one," she says. <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2013/02/13/news/westminster-affenpinscher-dog/?iid=EL#TOP" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #004276; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="To top of page" border="0" height="7" src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/money/images/bug.gif" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="7" /></a></div><br style="font-family: Arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;" /><br style="font-family: Arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;" /><div class="storytimestamp" style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">First Published: February 13, 2013: 2:14 PM ET</div></div></div></div>

affenpinscher Everyone wants an affenpinscher after Westminster win

By Emily Jane Fox @CNNMoney February 13, 2013: 2:56 PM ET Banana Joe became the first affenpinscher to be named Best in Show at the Westm...

Vintage piano given Valentine's Day deadline

11:25 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><h2 style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px;">A musician has been ordered to remove the 90-year-old instrument from a bluff top in Half Moon Bay. After a last performance, he plans to burn the piano Sunday.</h2><div><img alt="Bluff-top piano" src="http://www.trbimg.com/img-511c5e81/turbine/la-1358485-me-0213-piano6-wjs.jpg-20130213/580/580x357" /></div><div><span style="background-color: #f2f2f2; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12px;">Artist Mauro Ffortissimo plays the piano for a crowd in Half Moon Bay, Calif. City officials have given him until Thursday to remove the piano from its perch overlooking the ocean. </span><span class="credit" style="background-color: #f2f2f2; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12px;">(<span class="photographer">Wally Skalij, Los Angeles Times</span> / <span class="dateMonth">February </span><span class="dateDay">14</span><span class="dateYear">, 2013</span>)</span><br /><div class="articlerail" style="background-color: white; clear: both; float: left; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 234px; z-index: 4;"><div class="articleRelates module" style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 10px 10px 0px;"><ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><li class="newRelatedItem useBullet" style="clear: both; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px;"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-sunset-piano-photos-20130213,0,1743138.photogallery" style="clear: both; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; display: block; text-decoration: none; width: auto;" target="">Photos: Sunset piano</a></li><li class="newRelatedItem" style="clear: both; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px;"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-john-beasley-blue-whale-20121221,0,6417697.story" style="clear: both; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; display: block; text-decoration: none; width: 212px;" target=""><img alt="Jazz pianist John Beasley to have January residency at Blue Whale" height="105" src="http://www.trbimg.com/img-50d4e770/turbine/la-et-ms-john-beasley-blue-whale-20121221/187/187x105" style="border: 0px; display: block; float: left; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-right: 5px; padding-right: 8px;" title="Jazz pianist John Beasley to have January residency at Blue Whale" width="187" /></a><a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-john-beasley-blue-whale-20121221,0,6417697.story" style="clear: both; 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width: 212px;" target="">Photos: A piano named Sapphire</a></li><li class="newRelatedItem" style="clear: both; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px;"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-charles-rosen-pianist-20121211,0,6006152.story" style="clear: both; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; display: block; text-decoration: none; width: 212px;" target=""><img alt="Charles Rosen, pianist and author, dies at 85" height="105" src="http://www.trbimg.com/img-50c76da1/turbine/la-et-cm-charles-rosen-pianist-20121211/187/187x105" style="border: 0px; display: block; float: left; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-right: 5px; padding-right: 8px;" title="Charles Rosen, pianist and author, dies at 85" width="187" /></a><a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-charles-rosen-pianist-20121211,0,6006152.story" style="clear: both; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; display: block; text-decoration: none; width: 212px;" target="">Charles Rosen, pianist and author, dies at 85</a></li></ul></div></div><div class="konafilter pm-ad tpl02 " id="pmad-rail" style="background-color: white; 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cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank"><span class="dispurl" style="color: #2262cc; display: inline; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 13pt; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">adwords.google.com/video</span></a></li></ul><div class="clearboth" style="clear: both; height: 0px; line-height: 0; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;"></div></div></div></div><span class="toolSet" style="background-color: white; display: inline-block; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-right: -50px; margin-top: 6px; width: 335px;"><div class="byline" style="color: #292727; float: left; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px;"><span class="byline" style="display: block;">By Maria L. La Ganga, Los Angeles Times</span><div class="date" style="color: #930000; font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; margin-top: 3px; padding: 0px;"><span class="dateString" style="display: inline;">February 13, 2013</span><span class="dateTimeSeparator" style="border-left-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; color: white; display: inline; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: -1px; margin-left: 6px;">, </span><span class="timeString" style="display: inline; text-transform: lowercase;">10:25 p.m.</span></div></div><div class="clear" style="clear: both; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px;"></span><div id="story-body-text" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.43; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">HALF MOON BAY, Calif. — The piano was delivered to its bluff-top perch under cover of fog nearly two weeks ago. It is scheduled to leave this coastal enclave in a burst of flames on Sunday.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">In between the fog and the fire, musician and sculptor Mauro Ffortissimo has been treating his neighbors to an illicit outdoor concert series grandly dubbed Sunset Piano. Chopin, Debussy, a tango or two. The performances are timed to end the moment the sun sinks below the horizon.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">He plays to cyclists and dog walkers, babies in strollers, his landlady in a folding chair, the charmed, the perplexed. Every night the battered baby grand has sounded just a little bit worse as the elements erode the aging, al fresco instrument. Every night, the audience has grown.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Ffortissimo (not his real name, but you probably figured that out already) had hoped to serenade the residents of Half Moon Bay for a month. But it didn't take long for reality to intrude on the 50-year-old artist's well-laid plans.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Two days after Ffortissimo and friends rolled the piano out to a scenic spit of city land, a code enforcement officer sent a warning via email. Someone had complained.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">No permit, no piano.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">The 90-year-old Estey "<em>appears</em> to be an unauthorized encroachment onto public property," wrote Lamonte Mack. If you can't prove the installation is authorized, he told Ffortissimo, "please remove the piano — and platform —<em>within 10 (ten) days</em>."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">That made the deadline Valentine's Day, an occasion to celebrate love, if not misplaced musical instruments.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">The artist legally known as Mauro Dinucci has taken the bad news in stride. Asked about the end of the piano during Tuesday night's crowded concert, he crowed: "Woo, hoo! Valentine's Day! Bring chocolate!" and promised that "before we burn this baby, we give it one last boat ride."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Thursday will be the piano's last scheduled bluff-side concert along the Coastside Trail at the end of Kelly Avenue. Friday, Ffortissimo said, he has been invited to play the instrument at the Half Moon Bay Yacht Club.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Saturday he'll give a sunset performance on the water, a nod to the piano's earlier owners who once sent it from California to Panama and back by sea. Sunday he plans to set the piano ablaze in the flower-strewn field behind his studio.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">"The idea of the burning," Ffortissimo said, "is a cremation, to liberate the piano from its physical form … I just hope it won't be a 'Spare the Air' day."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Not everyone is as happy as Ffortissimo about the piano's upcoming freedom.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Mayor Rick Kowalczyk, who has yet to hear the Sunset Piano himself, said he was trying to "see if I can't get something done in the short term to allow Mauro to stay." Kicking the Estey off of the bluff, he said, "feels a little bit like a child has a lemonade stand and the city shuts it down."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">On Tuesday evening, more than 100 music lovers gathered round as the sun — and the temperature — dropped. Two women danced together on the grass. Wine was sipped and beer chugged. Children ate cold pizza. Shorebirds glided by.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Far away from Half Moon Bay, <a class="taxInlineTagLink" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics/government/barack-obama-PEPLT007408.topic" id="PEPLT007408" style="color: #666666; text-decoration: none;" title="Barack Obama">President Obama</a> was preparing to give his <a class="taxInlineTagLink" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics/government/state-of-the-union-address-EVGAP00063.topic" id="EVGAP00063" style="color: #666666; text-decoration: none;" title="State of the Union Address">State of the Union</a>address. Christopher Dorner was thought to be shooting it out with police.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">But here on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Susan Swanson of Redwood City poured white wine from a blue metal flask as Ffortissimo played Albinoni's "Adagio in G Minor." She'd read about the piano performance in the local newspaper, she said, "and it's the kind of news I like to read — good news.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">"This to me is everything," said the trying-to-retire office manager. "It's a perfect moment. Once in a lifetime maybe. It's so odd, isn't it?"</div></div></div></div>

Valentine's Day Vintage piano given Valentine's Day deadline

A musician has been ordered to remove the 90-year-old instrument from a bluff top in Half Moon Bay. After a last performance, he plans to bu...