While Europe is preoccupied with a possible restructuring of Greece's debt, huge risks lurk elsewhere -- in the balance sheet of the European Central Bank. The guardian of the single currency has taken on billions of euros worth of risky securities as collateral for loans to shore up the banks of struggling nations.

This sounds suspiciously like what's on the books of all the major U.S. banks as well. I thank Roy Stephens for this story which was posted over at the German website spiegel.de yesterday...and the link is here.

Antonis Samaras, head of New Democracy, the conservative party that earlier this month called for a renegotiation of the original €110bn (£95bn) bail-out, said he would not support additional austerity measures, totaling €6bn, to reduce the country's budget deficit. His refusal to back the government could jeopardise both payment of the rescue package's next instalment, of €12bn due in June, as well as ongoing talks over a second bail-out, of as much as €60bn.

The political wrangling came as Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, became the first UK politician to admit openly that Greece has no option but to restructure its €330bn of public debt.

This is another Roy Stephens offering...this one from The Telegraph late last night...and the link is here.

Here's a UPI story...also courtesy of Roy Stephens...that was posted on Sunday.

Greece is in crisis again. Athens should restructure its debt and abandon the euro to reassert control over its finances and economy.

Just one year after wealthier EU governments and International Monetary Fund extended more than $150 billion in emergency financing, Greece is unable to meet the aid plan's deficit reduction targets and grow fast enough to make its debt payments more manageable.

The alternatives are endless EU bailouts -- something German and French voters are doubtful to allow -- loss of Greek sovereignty and economic collapse.

The link to the story is here.

I'm sure this will go over well in Greece.

European leaders have raised the possibility of setting up an international agency to oversee the €50bn asset disposal programme promised by the Greek government to pay off its debts.

On Monday, the Greek government vowed to fast track the sale of the country’s gaming-to-ports disposal programme. Alternative proposals have now been put forward by the Netherlands and Finland.

The Dutch plan, led by finance minister Jan Kees de Jager, would see responsibility for the sell-off transferred to international experts. The Finnish proposal would transfer all the companies into a giant government-owned company that could be used as collateral for further EU loans.

You can't make this stuff up. This story was posted in The Telegraph in the wee hours of this morning...and it's another Roy Stephens offering. The link is here.

Anti-competition authorities may probe activity by large traders on the London Metal Exchange that also own warehouses, including investment bank JP Morgan, after lawmakers raised concerns.

A parliamentary committee said in a report it was concerned that the same firms that trade metals were able to hold large amounts of metal stored on the LME, the world's top metals exchange, and alerted competition authorities.

As Chris Powell said in the GATA release on this Reuters story..."Maybe someday they'll notice JPM's and HSBC's gold and silver custodianships?" We can only dream...and the link to the story [which is about base metals only] is here.

U.S. regulators launched one of the biggest crackdowns on oil price manipulation on Tuesday, suing two well-known traders and two trading firms owned by Norwegian billionaire John Fredriksen for allegedly making $50 million by squeezing markets in 2008.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said traders James Dyer of Oklahoma's Parnon Energy, and Nick Wildgoose of Europe-based Arcadia Energy, amassed large physical positions at a key U.S. trading hub to create the impression of tight supplies that would boost oil prices.

Well, the U.S. government had to find a sacrificial lamb somewhere...and these poor schmucks were it. The CNBC/Reuters story, courtesy or reader 'Elliot' is posted here.

Rising market prices underscore the need for Dodd-Frank Act derivatives rules to curb speculation in commodities such as oil, gold and natural gas, CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler told lawmakers.

“Though the CFTC is not a price-setting agency, rising prices for basic commodities highlight the importance of having effective market oversight,” Gensler wrote in response to a May 11 letter from 17 senators seeking a CFTC plan for curbing crude-oil speculation.

The agency’s proposal, approved on Jan. 13, prompted about 12,000 comment letters from supporters including Delta Air Lines Inc. and opponents such as Barclay's Capital and Cargill Inc.

Most of those 12,000 comments were about position limits in the silver market...but you'll note, dear reader, that the word 'silver' never appears in this story. This Bloomberg piece dances all around that issue.

This short, must read item, is courtesy of Florida reader Donna Badach...and the link is here.

The preamble to this next article, which is posted over at goldseek.com, has already been wordsmithed by Chris Powell. There's so much of it, that I will let him do the honours...and the link to the GATA release is here.

Here's a piece by Frank Holmes over at U.S. Global Investors that was sent to me by reader Craig Eubanks yesterday.

Song Qing, director of Shanghai-based Lion Fund Management, told Bloomberg news that, “Gold has taken on a new role in China amid concern about inflation…Just imagine the total wealth in China and even a small percentage of that choosing to buy gold. This demand is going to be enormous.”

This is a terrific article...and the graphs are worth the trip all by themselves. This is another must read item...and the link is here.

Here's a King World News blog that Eric sent me yesterday. Anything that the 'R' man has to say, is well worth your time...and this short read is no exception...and the link is here.

Eric sent me this blog yesterday as well...and I'm just going to do what I like to do best...steal Chris Powell's introduction and include the link.

Sprott Asset Management's chief investment strategist, John Embry, told King World News yesterday that silver supplies are tight and the market riggers won't enjoy an infinite harvest of margined investors who are easily devoured through commodity exchange margin increases. Embry sticks his neck out as far as GoldMoney's James Turk, noting that gold has broken out in euros and pounds and predicting that it well might break out in dollars this summer.

The link to the blog is here.

In addition to GATA Chairman Bill Murphy, GATA's secretary/treasurer Chris Powell...and your humble scribe; conference speakers will include many GATA favorites: Al Korelin of the Korelin Economics Report, David Franklin of Sprott Asset Management, Ian Gordon of the Longwave Group, newsletter writer Jay Taylor, Peter Grandich of the Grandich Letter, Thom Calandra of Ticker Trax, Frank Holmes of U.S. Global Investors, Peter Spina of GoldSeek.com, and Jon Nadler of Kitco.

The conference highlights are contained in this GATA release...and the link is here.