Posts Tagged 'EU'

Global Markets Slip on Greece

By: Daryl Montgomery

Stocks in Asia, Europe and North America are falling as contagion from the Greek debt crisis continues to impact markets worldwide. Until there is some resolution, investors should expect this to continue along with intermittent sharp moves up due to central bank liquidity injections.

Trouble began in Asia last night with the Hang Seng in Hong Kong falling 537 points or 2.8%. It closed at 18,918, well below the critical 20,000 support level. The Indian Sensex was down 188 points or 1.1% ...

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Central Banks Pump Money to Prop Up Europe

Central Banks Pump Money to Prop Up Europe

By: Daryl Montgomery

Exactly three years after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and almost brought down the global financial system, central banks in North America, Europe and Asia engaged in a coordinated money pumping operation to prevent the EU banking system from stalling. The move created a sharp stock market rally, especially in financial shares, just as was the case when similar actions took place during the 2008 Credit Crisis.

Involved in Thursday’s action were the U.S. Federal Reserve, the ECB, the Bank of ...

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Interest Rate Spread Widens as Greece Heads Toward Default

Interest Rate Spread Widens as Greece Heads Toward Default

By: Daryl Montgomery

For Audio Summary click here

Global interest rates continue to diverge, with rates rising in the troubled eurozone countries and falling to new lows in Germany and the United States.  The same sort of divergence took place during the 2008 Credit Crisis with yields on safe-haven governments falling markedly, while yields on low-grade corporates soared.

Nowhere in the world is the current interest-rate spread more extreme than in the Eurozone (the epicenter ...

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Why a Greek Default is Imminent

By: Daryl Montgomery

For Audio Summary click here

It may only be weeks, if not days, before Greece defaults on its debts. Interest rates and credit default swaps (bond insurance) have hit record levels and are still climbing. Stocks are getting slammed throughout the world, especially EU bank stocks. The Germans appear ready to abandon further attempts at bailing out the debt-ridden country.

Yields on two-year notes in Greece were above 60% Monday morning — the highest ...

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EU-Centered Credit Crisis Continues

By: Daryl Montgomery

For Audio Summary click here

The 2011 Credit Crisis continued Tuesday with the Stoxx Europe 6000 index hitting a two-year low, the Swiss taking desperate measures to control the franc, more record high prices for credit default swaps (bond insurance) on British Banks and yields on 10-year U.S. treasuries hitting an all-time low. Despite the dramatic turn of events, stock losses were somewhat muted.

U.S. markets opened sharply lower, but the Nasdaq and S&P 500 ...

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Is Greece About to Default?

By: Daryl Montgomery

Yields on two-year Greek governments reach 46.84% last Friday. This is roughly comparable to yields on Argentine bonds in early December 2001 — only a month before the country defaulted on its debt.

Similar interest rates occurred this spring in Greece before the second bailout package was put together. The bailout saved Greece from defaulting back then, but the bailout is now falling apart while the fiscal situation in Greece continues to deteriorate. The risk ...

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