Europe

Dollar bears are getting their way in the currency markets right now.  While most eyes are peeled on Sterling (up 3 big figures since Friday) and the Euro, all currencies are rising against the Dollar (including the Commodity Dollar Complex…

This is the assessment of den Danske Bank as reported by Edward Hugh.  The last time I mentioned the Baltics was on May 12th in my post “A bearish view on Eastern Europe.”  I ended saying the Scandinavian banks’ exposure to the Baltics is…

Marc Faber participated in a roundtable discussion on CNBC this morning about the dreadful figures coming out of Europe (see articles here and here). At one point, the German CNBC correspondent made a very good comment about Eastern Europe…

Swine flu vaccine won't be ready for next wave - health - New Scientist "A VACCINE against the Mexican swine flu sweeping the world is likely to arrive too late for most people, vaccine officials told New Scientist between a flurry of…

For the time being, I am more worried abut the potential inflationary effects of quantitative easing than about the deflationary impact of deleveraging.  But, the latest news from Ireland shows us that deflation is alive and well. This…

This morning you may have read Gideon Rachman’s positive view on Hungary.  He said the panic is all but over and it looks like Hungry is going to get through this debt crisis. The horror scenario envisaged a Hungarian banking collapse that…

Today I saw two blurbs about Eastern Europe which I want to pull together with a bit of added commentary about the automakers in the U.S.  The first blurb had to do with the Baltics and their probable downgrade to junk by the ratings…

The following is a worthy analysis from Marc Chandler of Brown Brothers Harriman regarding the recent GDP numbers released in the U.S. and their significance for currencies (emphasis mine): The initial reading of the US Q1 GDP was worse…

The following is the currency outlook released today by the Brown Brothers Harriman Currency Strategy team: Swine flu and concerns about US banks may be hitting the headlines but, the European banking sector remains a threat for the euro…

I want to make clear the significance of the Treasury's Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan for Chrysler if Fiat pulls out.  It will mean massive job losses and and a huge down-tick in consumer demand.  There will be no second half recovery.…