Portugal

Below is a PDF copy of the Portuguese Memorandum of Understanding for the EU - IMF bailout. Portuguese interest rates have fallen somewhat on the news of the bailout, to the lowest levels in fifth months.

The euro continues to surge this morning, trading ahead of $1.49, despite some US short covering against some of the majors and a mixed tone in risk appetite, buoyed by a combination of drivers. For one, many see the risk premium in the…

In the wake of a sovereign debt ratings downgrade by the rating agency Moody's, Portuguese five-year bonds are trading with a yield of 10%. As a result, Portugal has leapt over Ireland into fourth place on the credit default swaps list of…

The results of the Irish stress tests are going to be released this afternoon at 430PM Irish time. I will be talking about the implications for investors in European markets on CNBC's Power Lunch show. I think one has to be cautious…

By Win Thin S&P cut Portugal one notch from BBB to BBB-, and comes just five days after it cut the rating from A- to BBB. Did things really materially change over the past five days? It’s time for a reminder of what the agencies are…

After more than a year since the European debt crisis began, officials have still failed to resolve it. They raised expectations for a “grand bargain” only to crash them on the shoals of political reality. The March 24-25 Summit was to…

Yesterday, Paul Krugman wrote: Portugal’s government has just fallen in a dispute over austerity proposals. Irish bond yields have topped 10 percent for the first time. And the British government has just marked its economic forecast…

The resilience of the euro in the face of seemingly incontrovertible evidence that Portugal will need to get assistance and that very same program and approach has not been enough to stabilize the Greek and Irish situation is amazing.…

Reuters has reported that the parliament in Portugal will likely reject the socialist government's austerity budget, a move which will precipitate the collapse of that government, new elections and a likely bailout by the European Union.…

Rumors of a missed coupon payment in Ireland made the rounds and many now are down playing it. However, the problems in the periphery have not lessened. The real immediate focus is on Portugal. The government's new austerity measures will…