<Click on chart for larger image> The Telegraph (UK) – Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Talk of ‘nuclear default’ sums up Left’s anger at EU dictates Tempers are fraying in austerity-racked Portugal. A top socialist politician was taped at a party dinner calling for diplomatic warfare against the EU’s northern powers and issuing threats of debt default “We… Continue reading Portugal On The Edge
<Click on chart for larger image> Reuters.com – Greece’s proposed 75% haircut One of the most important parts of Greece’s restructuring deal — the agreement with its private creditors over what’s going to happen to its bonds — is still very much up in the air. The idea was originally that there would be an… Continue reading Greek Bond Haircuts
The Financial Times – Doubts over ECB move to boost bond sales Eurozone governments are facing disappointment for their hopes that banks in the region would use new longer-term finance offered the European Central Bank to buy up beleaguered sovereign bonds. Bankers say big European banks are unlikely to buy more government debt using the… Continue reading The ECB
The Wall Street Journal – Ties That Bound Europe Now Fraying The first decade of the euro intertwined the Continent’s financial systems as never before. Banks and investment funds in one euro-using country gorged on the bonds of others, freed of worry about devaluation-prone currencies like the drachma, lira, peseta and escudo. But as the… Continue reading European Financial System
The Financial Times – US Congress steps back from shutdown US Congress leaders reached a deal to avert a government shutdown, appearing ready to strike at least a separate agreement to extend stimulus for the US economy for two months, and ease the political gridlock that has dominated Washington this year. After a day of… Continue reading No Government Shutdown … This Month
<Click on chart for larger image> The Washington Post – China’s boom ends as investment, exports, manufacturing fall A top Chinese government economist confirmed Thursday what a slew of recent economic data had already shown — that China’s long-booming economy has slowed dramatically, and the era of double-digit growth is now officially a thing of… Continue reading China Set To Slow?
The Associated Press – Foreign holdings of US Treasury debt slip in October as China trims its holdings China, the largest foreign holder, bought 1.2 percent less to bring its total holdings to $1.13 trillion. China had increased its holdings 1 percent in September after a reduction of 3.1 percent in August. The small decline… Continue reading China Sells Treasuries
The New York Times – Floyd Norris” Questioning The Benefit Of Curbing Short Sales Historically, short-sellers have tended to be right a surprising amount of the time, at least in cases where the company grew upset enough to publicly complain. In 2004, a Yale professor, Owen Lamont, published a study of 266 companies that had… Continue reading Do Short Bans Work?
Bloomberg.com – Gold Market Rout Leaves Traders Least Bullish in Four Months: Commodities Gold’s biggest rout in three months means traders are the least bullish since July and Dennis Gartman, the economist who sold the last of his metal on the day the slump began, warned of further declines. Ten of 21 surveyed by Bloomberg… Continue reading Gold Bearishness?
The Economist – America’s fragile recovery: A year of living pigheadedly America will be a tad cheerier than Europe in 2012—but it should be so much better still THE euro zone is probably already back in recession. The emerging markets are starting to show signs of slowing down. Thank heavens, one might say, for America,… Continue reading The U.S. Economy
The Financial Times – Gillian Tett: Crisis fears fuel debate on capital controls Is the world stealthily sliding towards capital controls? That is the question which is starting to hover, half-stated, on the edge of policy debates, as financial anxiety spreads across Europe. But now, a new salvo has been fired into this debate from… Continue reading Are Capital Controls Coming?