sovereign debt crisis

European sovereigns return to the capital markets more substantially next week as 2012 issuance gets under way. Between bills and bonds, around 35-40 bln euros will be sold. Maturing issues and coupon payments will cover about…

Yesterday morning, I did the first weekly newsletter on my ten surprises for 2012. Here's a brief version of the list.

In addition to the European economic recession exerting a drag on the rest of the world, the real threat of bankruptcy of a major financial institution can rapidly spread throughout the globe as a result of a run on the banks or the opaque…

At the end of last year, Italian 10-year yields were more than 200 bp on top of Spain. The spread has narrowed in recent days, but is still well beyond the euro era average of about 10 bp and the late 2008 extreme near 65 bp. There is more…

Welcome to Credit Writedowns Pro. This is the first post in a series here. Let me start this Byron Wien-style and make a predictions list. Wien defines his surprises as events to which investors assign 1-in-3 odds of happening but which he…

One of the key factors behind the poor sentiment toward the euro, which was pressed to new 13 month lows in Europe today, is the challenge posed by the sovereign and bank refunding needed this year, while rating downgrades loom around the…

My friend Scott sent me the following story

As always, I present you Byron Wien’s Ten Surprises for 2011. He is bullish yet again - on both the US and emerging markets.

Soon, Credit Writedowns Pro is coming out with my predictions/forecast for 2012. I am aiming for a Jan 5th release and will also start a few forum topics then as well. See the piece "Introducing Credit Writedowns Pro", which is stuck to the…

Investment advisor John Mauldin explains his attitude towards austerity measures; a return of the gold standard; the euro crisis; and the willingness to bailout everyone that makes capitalism and monetary systems stop working.