Tag Archives: PIIGS

ECB’s Bond Purchases: A Game of Cat and Mouse

A little dated but an informative graphic nonetheless. (click here if chart is not observable)

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Dangerous Merkel-Sarkozy Spin

Interesting read by some traders on the Merkel/Sarkozy nonevent.   Their take away is both leaders sent a message to the PIIGS to either get on board with fiscal adjustment or leave the Euro. Hmmmm.    Now what would that do to … Continue reading

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Bank Exposure to Domestic Sovereigns

Here at the Global Macro Monitor we perceive a rapidly changing financial landscape.  The concept of risk-free is being redefined as we write and analysts are now forced to look at the systemic risk caused by a banking system’s exposure … Continue reading

Posted in Black Swan Watch, Bonds, Budget Deficit, Charts, Euro, Fiscal Policy, Sovereign Debt, Sovereign Risk | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Debt and Leverage in Advanced Economies

The following is one of the most comprehensive snapshots of relative debt and leverage in the major advanced economies.   The source of the table is the IMF’s Global Financial Stability Report (page 11). We find interesting that U.S. debt held … Continue reading

Posted in Bonds, Budget Deficit, Charts, Economics, Sovereign Debt, Sovereign Risk | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Weekend Read: Bikini Wax Indicator

If you’re getting a bikini wax in Brazil, you’ll likely find that the cost is rising. And if you’re an economic policy maker, you’ll likely see that as a problem, since the bikini wax is one of the items the … Continue reading

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Chart of the Day: PIIGS Retirement Age and Vacation Days

Lots of push back to Angela Merkel’s “lazy Southern Europe” speech.   Here are a few interesting charts refuting the German chancellor’s notions which we found posted on Der Spiegel’s website.    (click here if charts are not observable)

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Merkel Hammers Greece on Retirement Age and Vacation

The European election cycle is kicking into high gear as the German chancellor had some tough words for Greece,  Spain, and Portugal.  Spiegel ONLINE reports, “It is also important that people in countries like Greece, Spain and Portugal are not … Continue reading

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Euro Fracture: Foreign Bank Exposure to GIPs

Great chart from the Economist of foreign bank exposure to Greece, Ireland, and Portugal (GIP) and explains why “restructuring” is so taboo with European policymakers. The Greek sovereign credit curve is inverted with the 2-year now yielding around 18 percent … Continue reading

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Euro Fracture: Greek Restructuring? – German FinMin

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble raised the specter of a Greece restructuring in an interview with German newspaper Die Welt.   Yields on Greek 10-year bonds jumped to 13.26 percent and the two-year note yield surged 103 basis points to 17.96 … Continue reading

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Stronger Euro Will Slaughter the PIIGS

The Euro keeps moving higher on expectations of an ECB interest rate hike and what is beginning to appear almost terminal dollar weakness.   The export destination mix of  Ireland, for example, is around 60 percent to the EU 27  and … Continue reading

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