Spain

The decision by EU Commissioner Olli Rehn to appear before the world's press today, and inform the assembled throngs that, as far as the EU Commission could see, Spain will not be sticking to its 6% of GDP fiscal deficit commitment next…

The euro continues to come under pressure and is making new lows in early North American turn over despite talk of interest from an Asian central bank. The euro has slipped below its 200-day moving average (~$1.3130) for the first time…

This chart from Spiegel gives you a sense of the magnitude of the deficit reductions that must be accomplished in order to get the European periphery under the Maastricht 3% hurdle.   Source: Spiegel

While Ireland, Greece, and Portugal do not have to sell any more bonds this year, Spain, on the other hand, has more three more bond auctions this year and three more bill auctions. Spain seeks to sell up to 4 bln euros of bonds…

by Win Thin Greece has the worst performing bonds in the euro zone, with 10-year spreads to Germany blowing out 80 bp this week and 136 bp this month.  It retakes the worst-performing mantle from Ireland, whose 10-year spreads are up…

by Edward Hugh Spain’s statistics office continue to issue worryingly confusing press releases. The latest example is one published in connection with the quarterly labour force survey which came out last Friday. Now the data the INE…

by Edward Hugh Spain’s troubled banking sector is back in the news again. Despite the apparently successful stress tests carried out over the summer problems persist, and don’t seem likely to go away soon. Foremost among these is the…

The problem with bailouts is that they allow companies with either poor economics or weak financial structures to compete on a more level playing field with stronger competitors.  The bailouts are like a subsidy which gives an unfair…

by Edward Hugh Last Thursday Moody’s Investor Service cut Spain’s Sovereign credit – to Aa1 from AAA – thus removing the last of the country’s highly-valued triple-A ratings. The move really surprised no one – in this case the Moody’s…

I mostly liked this video but I ask "Is this an accurate depiction?"  It definitely has a slant – one that I don't necessarily agree with and that seems political. The subtext at the beginning of the video:…