Europe

This from BloombergThe French economy, the euro- region's second largest, contracted in the second quarter for the first time in five years as exports declined and companies cut investments. Gross domestic product fell 0.3…

It's pretty much official now: Europe is in recession. As I predicted late last month, the Eurozone has hit stall speed with Germany now reporting a fall in GDP for the second quarter.The German economy, Europe's largest, contracted for the…

Late last month, I made a big to-do about the Baltics becoming the next Argentina. Well, part of that mess is unraveling as we speak. Estonia is in recession and Latvia is headed for recession.Read my translation of a Dagens Nyheter article…

I wrote a blurb on the Georgia-Russia struggle on my blog. But I wanted to add a blurb here from Mikhail Gorbachev's Op-Ed in today's Washington Post. His viewpoint stands in great contrast to the punderati of Washington. Framed in a real…

Now that Russia has finally gotten belligerent after many a provocation, one has to ask whether the U.S. NATO expansion plans have been wise. Basically, the U.S. has tried to offer every Eastern Bloc country it could safe harbor under NATO…

For those of you who actually care about anything international, there is an Emerging Markets crisis brewing right now in the Baltics. After reading posts from Alpha Sources, naked capitalism, Market Movers, and Bronte Capital on the…

America's security concerns due to terrorism are having unwanted side effects in relations with the EU. Handelsblatt, the German newspaper is reporting that visa requirements for some EU citizens is causing the EU to retaliate with visa…

As an unofficial Eurosceptic, I always view EU power grabs through a lens of distrust. Now, the EU is looking to increase its power by further regulating financial markets. But, the heavy-handiness of the regulation surely will be…

Spain pulled a potential sale for 15-year bonds as the appetite for the issue just wasn't there. Before the Euro, some in the European debt capital markets, where I worked, pejoratively called Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain, the PIGS.…

Zeitenwende, a German-language blog from Switzerland I subscribe to made a very good point this past holiday weekend after the Dow reached bear territory. U.S. investors had lost 20% on the Dow, but European investors would have lost much…