Sunday's elections in France and Greece were a firm vote against austerity, and regardless of the merits of either side of the debate, that means the future of the eurozone is again in doubt. Here's why the bond markets care so much -- and why you should, too.
Some of the world's most prominent hedge fund managers are betting against the eurozone -- and not just the weak little countries -- we're talking Germany and France. Here's why that's bad news for all of us.
Markets dipped Monday after official data confirmed that Spain is back in its second recession in three years. Investors had initially bid up stocks on hopes that the Fed would provide more stimulus to the U.S. economy.
Forget black cats, broken mirrors and unstoppable psychopaths in hockey masks -- on Friday the 13th, the biggest terrors sometimes hit our wallets. No, the Great Crash of 1929 didn't start on a Friday, but a fair number of financial disasters did.
Stock markets in Europe traded in fairly narrow ranges Monday as Germany's leader warned that Greece may not get its next batch of bailout cash. Chinese shares surged after authorities pledged to increase bank lending to entrepreneurs. Europe's stumbling efforts to get a handle on its debt crisis remains the focus of interest in the markets.
By most indications, the U.S. economy is recovering fairly well for the time being. But across the Pond in Europe, another story is unfolding that has the stock market worried -- and it should have your attention, too.
Many European nations have deficits that make the U.S. look thrifty, and over a year after their problems came to light, they're still holding the worldwide recovery back. But because they share the euro, normal solutions aren't available, which means the EU must bite the bullet and accept an orderly default, or watch matters spiral downward.
LDK Solar has long depended on demand driven by government subsidies from countries such as Germany, Spain and Italy, which makes it vulnerable in this period of European austerity. Trefis has revised its estimates for LDK Solar down -- but still meaningfully above the market price.
The European debt crisis is back: Portugal is in political turmoil, and may need a major bailout, and Spain may too. But the E.U.'s strong healthy are rebelling against propping up their weaker neighbors. The real issue, though, is that the E.U. hasn't yet addressed the fundamental flaw built into it at the euro's creation.
The Spanish government's successful bond auction Thursday reassured investors, pushing the euro to a one-week high against the dollar. Portugal and Italy also tested the bond market this week with their own auctions. But how much appetite for bonds do investors really have?
Just a day after a successful bond auction in Portugal, Spain hopes to raise up to $3.9 billion in its first debt auction of the year. The auction will be a key test of investor appetite for European bonds.
Debt and government spending are firmly at the top of the new Congress's agenda. And just the threat that the U.S. wouldn't pay its bills has traders worried and wondering if the U.S. could end up on the same chaotic economic path taken by Greece or Spain.
The big winners of 2010 scored returns far above those of U.S. markets by piggybacking on China's ferocious growth. But rebounding American equities look mighty impressive next to the year's real losers: the victims of the eurozone debt crisis.
The U.S. is hardly alone in losing work to cheaper skilled labor in foreign countries. Australia, Canada and Israel, among others, have dropped off Gartner's list of the top 30 countries for outsourcing. Here's where IT and business-processing jobs are heading.
Just as the euro has begun recovering from Ireland's meltdown, another financial crisis is brewing in Spain. The country could be headed for a bailout or reorganization, experts say. How low could the euro go?