Europe

As Irwin Stelzer argued in a recent opinion article in the Wall Street Journal, Spain’s Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero seems to be an admirer of Charles Dickens's character Mr. Micawber. When asked what he plans to do about…

Highlights The US dollar is firmer against most currencies. The euro failed to extend Friday’s break up out of the $1.3436-$1.3788 range in which it has been trading since Mar 17th while against the Swiss franc, the euro is trading at its…

Highlights The US dollar is lower against most currencies with the European currencies leading.  Talk of an EU rescue package for Greece on the order of 55 bln euros has contributed to the moves helping to trigger stops.  The…

The Financial Times has caught wind of a letter sent by U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to to the EU’s Michel Barnier. In only thinly-veiled language Mr. Geithner accused the EU of financial protectionism for the way Brussels…

The question of fiscal sustainability looms large at the moment - not just in the peripheral nations of the eurozone, but also in the UK, the US, and Japan. More restrictive fiscal paths are being proposed in order to avoid rapidly rising…

Bundesbank President Weber has been the most candid to date about what the ECB could do in case Greece is downgraded again, especially by Moody's.  Recall the problem:  Prior to the crisis, the ECB would take as collateral only…

The Bloomberg video is a bit sensationalist in my opinion. But it gets to the heart of the problem in Europe, namely Spain. Spain has an economy and debt which is an order of magnitude larger than Greece. That means that problems in Spain…

We have a bit of a divide developing between the EU and the U.S. on banking and bank reform. The most significant move in this tiff has come in retaliation for Wall Street’s role in helping countries like Greece hide their debt burdens.…

Highlights The US dollar and yen are trading with a firmer tone against the major and emerging market currencies.  But the markets still appear to be consolidating and we expect the “rule of alternation” to remain in play meaning…

With the anxiety caused by the Greece situation alleviated for the time being by last week's successful auction, words of support from Germany and especially France over the weekend, and follow through gains in the Greek debt market,…