Gartman on Cyprus: ‘Don’t Mess With Russian Mafia’
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The decision to tax Cyprus bank deposits to fund a bailout by the EU was "egregiously bad," Dennis Gartman of The Gartman Letter said Monday on CNBC.
"Everybody knows that the vast majority of the deposits in Cyprus are from Russia," he said. "They're Russian government officials, they're Russian businessmen, it's Russian mafia – and you don't mess with the Russian mafia."
On "Fast Money," the editor of The Gartman Letter said that the move would not sit well with a powerful contingent of Cyprus bank account holders.
"People around the world don't kidnap Russians because they know that the Russians will deal with you in a very efficient and very ugly manner," he said.
"I think the decision here was egregiously bad. I think this was lunacy on the part of the European monetary authorities, the banking regulators, or whoever it was responsible for making this decision in Cyprus. They have stepped on Russian toes, and the Russians are not going to be happy about this. Somebody will have to pay for it. I think this is very stupid."
Gartman said that he held long positions in Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars. He also said that he was short the yen and the euro, whose prospects appeared poor.
"They've broken trend lines. Things look ugly. I think you're going lower in euro, and I think you're going materially lower over time," he said.
Trader disclosure: On March 18, 2013, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: Brian Kelly is long S&P ; Brian Kelly is long T NOTES; Brian Kelly is long GOLD; Brian Kelly is long EURO; Brian Kelly is long PLATINUM; Brian Kelly is long SILVER; Brian Kelly is long DAX; Brian Kelly is long EUROSTOXX; Brian Kelly is short COPPER; Brian Kelly is short KOSPI; Pete Najarian is long AAPL ; Pete Najarian is long BAC CALLS; Pete Najarian is long JPM CALLS; Pete Najarian is long YHOO; Pete Najarian is long BBRY; Pete Najarian is long SBUX; Pete Najarian is long FB; Pete Najarian is long MSFT; Pete Najarian is long COP CALLS; Pete Najarian is long MRO CALLS; Pete Najarian is long ABX CALLS; Pete Najarian is long CZR CALLS; Pete Najarian is long QQQ CALLS; Pete Najarian is long MTG CALLS; Pete Najarian is long EMC CALLS; Pete Najarian is long CROX ; Tim Seymour is long AAPL; Tim Seymour is long INTC; Tim Seymour is long SBUX; Tim Seymour is long TSO; Steve Grasso is long AAPL; Steve Grasso is long ASTM; Steve Grasso is long BA; Steve Grasso is long GOOG; Steve Grasso is long GDX; Steve Grasso is long LF; Steve Grasso is long LNG; Steve Grasso is long MHY; Steve Grasso is long MU; Steve Grasso is long PXD ; Steve Grasso is long NVIV; Steve Grasso is long PFE; Steve Grasso is long S; Steve Grasso is long VLO; Steve Grasso is funds long FB; Steve Grasso is funds long MSFT; Steve Grasso is funds long HPQ; Steve Grasso is funds long ZNGA.
