Italy

Monti lashes out at Germany ahead of summit – FT.com

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Monti lashes out at Germany ahead of summit By Guy Dinmore and Giulia Segreti in Rome and Peter Spiegel in Brussels ©Reuters Mario Monti has set the stage for a tough fight with Germany at the EU summit this week, insisting that he will continue to push Italy’s proposal to use eurozone bailout funds in an attempt to stabilise financial markets. Italy’s technocratic prime minister’s frustration with Germany surfaced in a combative speech to parliament, saying he would not go to Brussels to “rubber-stamp” pre-written documents and was ready to extend the two-day summit until Sunday night if needed to … Read more

| ZeroHedge

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Spain IS Greece After All: Here Are The Main Outstanding Items Following The Spanish Bailout Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/09/2012 14:52 -0400 Bank Run Bond Bridgewater CDS Creditors European Central Bank Eurozone Germany Greece Gross Domestic Product Ireland Italy National Debt Nationalization Portugal Sovereign Debt After two years of denials, we finally have the right answer: Spain IS Greece. Only much bigger. So now that the European bailout has moved from Greece, Ireland and Portugal on to the big one, Spain, here are the key outstanding questions.   via Spain IS Greece After All: Here Are The Main Outstanding … Read more

Soros says Europe has three months to avoid catastrophe

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I don’t pretend to know what’s going to happen but I’ve said many times, the world would be much better off without the euro.  For reasons beyond my comprehension, the Europeans seem hell bent on keeping it.  Perhaps this speech from George Soros will make it clearer to you. Remarks at the Festival of Economics, Trento Italy June 2nd  

Immediate Solution To Debt Crisis Found: Italian police seize $6 trillion of fake U.S. bonds

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What started off as a harmless Mafia loan-sharking investigation turned into a rather profitable seizure of $6 trillion worth of forged US Treasury bonds on Friday.  Oddly enough, no rally in the treasury market as a result.  US officials confirmed that the bonds were not just a misplaced QE 3 and QE 4. “It began as a investigation into mafia loan-sharking, but gradually expanded as prosecutors used telephone and computer intercepts to unearth evidence of illegal activity surrounding Treasury bonds.  The fake securities, worth more than a third of U.S. national debt, were seized in January from a Swiss trust … Read more

The Mafia Is Now “‘s Largest Bank”| ZeroHedge

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The Mafia Is Now “Italy’s Largest Bank” Whoever says there are no winners in the European banking crisis apparently has never woken up with a horse’s head in their bed. According to a new report by Italian anti-crime group SOS Impresa, as reported by Reuters, “Organised crime has tightened its grip on the Italian economy during the economic crisis, making the Mafia the country’s biggest “bank” and squeezing the life out of thousands of small firms, according to a report on Tuesday.” You mean kinda like Intesa credit cards demanding a 39.95% APR: we knew we had seen that “life … Read more

‘s Only Wednesday: Urban Outfitters, WebMD, The White House, Swiss National Bank, and Italy

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Out of the markets and into the midst of  both earnings and elections seasons, volatility seems here to stay.  Here’s a quick recap of the most recent turnovers in the headlines the past few days, gathered from.. well, everywhere.   Clothing retailer Urban Outfitters Inc. said its Chief Executive Glen Senk resigned: The company named Chairman and co-founder Richard Hayne as his replacement.  Shares of the company fell 12 percent after the bell. They closed at $29.41 on Tuesday on the Nasdaq.via Urban Outfitters CEO resigns | Reuters. WebMD Chief Executive resigns: INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — WebMD Health Corp. CEO Wayne T. … Read more

Berlusconi under pressure as markets lose patience

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(Reuters) – Bond markets may be succeeding where political opponents have failed, pushing Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi closer to the exit and opening up fresh uncertainties as Italystruggles to avoid financial disaster. The spread between yields on 10-year Italian bonds over German Bunds briefly climbed past the equivalent Spanish/German spread on Friday morning, underlining the perception that Italy now poses the major threat to euro zone stability. Berlusconi’s response to the crisis, blaming international conditions and pledging unspecified measures to boost growth, has fallen flat with markets suddenly focusing on his divided government and longstanding weaknesses in the Italian economy. … Read more

S&P, Moody’s Under Investigation

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Italy seized documents of S&P, Moody’s over suspected ‘Anomalous’ fluctuations Italian prosecutors seized documents at the offices of rating agencies Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s in a probe over suspected “anomalous” fluctuations in Italian share prices, a prosecutor said Thursday. via S&P, Moody’s Under Investigation | Live Stock Trading News | Equities, Forex, Gold, Silver and Oil Trading.

Italy under fire in widening euro debt crisis

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(Reuters) – Financial market pressure on Italyintensified on Tuesday, sucking Europe’s second biggest debtor nation deeper into the euro area danger zone and prompting Italian authorities to call emergency talks. Italian bond yields hit their highest level in the euro’s 11-year lifetime, ominously reaching the same level as Spain’s in a sign that Rome is overtaking Madrid as the main focus of investors’ concern about debt sustainability. Italy’s stock index fell to its lowest in more than 27 months, dragged down by banks with a heavy exposure to Italian debt. European shares hit a 9-month low amid worries that slowing … Read more

‘s Burgeoning Debt Crisis Hits Markets Around the Globe – Barrons.com

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Once again, it’s the PIIGS. For the past year, the focus on eurozone’s debt crisis has been on the PIGS — Portugal, Ireland and especially Greece, plus Spain. But the crash in Italy’s bonds has put the second I back in that acronym. Global markets shuddered in reaction because, in the words of Goldman Sachs Asset Management head Jim O’Neill, “neither the euro area nor possibly the rest of the world can afford a full-blown Italian bond crisis.” Or as Nomura Securities foreign exchange strategist Jens Nordvig pithily asserts: Italy is too big to bail. The slide in the prices … Read more