european banks

Despite a scary report about European bank debt, investors seem far calmer now. Why? A surprising swing from an almost certain eurozone double dip to robust growth since the Greek debt crisis has helped.

News that most European banks appear adequately capitalized to weather further credit strains gave the market a late-day lift Friday. The Dow and Nasdaq are now at breakeven for 2010, while the S&P 500 is off 1%.

Ever since the Greek debt crisis began worrying investors last month, many European banks are being stress tested. Now, there is growing pressure to release the results.

Many analysts have been proclaiming the U.S. dollar is in terminal decline, and that it is due to be replaced by another currency, perhaps the Chinese Renminbi (a.k.a. Yuan) or a new Asian or Mideast regional currency akin to the Euro. The Bearish story can be summarized thusly: interest rates are...