Europe

By Win Thin It’s a tale of two euros when it comes to growth in that region.  Q4 euro zone came in at 2.0% y/y, slightly weaker than expected and up slightly from 1.9% y/y in Q3.  However, the variance within the major euro zone…

Highlights The US dollar is little changed since Friday but stronger against the euro, which is largely a sign of euro weakness as opposed to dollar strength. The euro is susceptible to event risk this week, after hitting recent highs,…

By Michael Pettis Because of the lunar New Year festivities when I wrote my newsletter little had happened in China besides the 25 bp interest rate hike on Tuesday, not counting of course the never-ending stream of fireworks and the…

By Win Thin There is no real news behind the recent underperformance of Portugal bonds, as it appears that markets are simply getting more nervous as the country’s 10-year yields stay above 7% for the fifth straight day today and for 10 of…

By Claus Vistesen It seems that JCT today showed that he and the ECB are not completely blind and deaf when it comes to the reality of a stronger currency in a world where everyone is scrambling to devalue. As I have noted before,…

By Win Thin Here are some more thoughts regarding a possible Greek debt restructuring, which was reported today by the Greek press. Reports suggest that the EU, IMF, and the ECB have reached a basic understanding that a Greek debt…

By Marc Chandler The European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) is planning its first issue this week. Talk was of a 3-5 bln euros of a 5-year issue priced 8-10 bp on top of swap rates. This would imply a yield of about 2.85% compared to…

Nomura's Bob Janjuah was on Bloomberg Television's "Inside Track" with Erik Schatzker this morning, discussing his outlook as well as the crises in the U.S. and Europe. He opened the session by saying he is tactically bearish over…

By Jeffrey Somers and Michael Hudson A spectre is haunting Europe: the illusion that Latvia’s financial and fiscal austerity is a model for other countries to emulate. Bankers and the financial press are asking governments from Greece to…

The Bank of Spain is to force the cajas, Spanish savings banks to reveal the extent of their property losses. The thinking behind this move is the same as the thinking that prompted the stress tests in both the US and Europe; officials…