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Euro Zone Jobless and Inflation Rates Climb Higher
Thursday, March 1, 2012 - 9:18am | 918There was more bad news out of Europe on Thursday when the European Union's statistics agency Eurostat announced that unemployment in the euro zone had climbed to a euro era record high and inflation was on the rise too. Eurostat said that unemployment across the euro zone had reached 10.7 percent...
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EU Says Euro Zone Is Falling Into Recession
Thursday, February 23, 2012 - 9:43am | 892The European Commission (EC) released a report today saying that last quarter's economic contraction will extend into the first two quarters of 2012, sending the euro zone group of economies into a recession. Today's report from the European Commission forecast that euro zone economies will shrink...
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Euro Zone Economies Shrink Unexpectedly in February
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 - 9:21am | 721The euro zone unexpectedly shrank in February, adding to fears that Europe might be about to fall back in to recession. The latest survey results from Markit Economics' purchasing managers' index (PMI) showed that the index fell back to 49.7 in February, down from 50.4 in January. The results are...
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French and German Economies Perform Better Than Expected
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 - 8:19am | 655For once there was good news coming out of Europe when France and Germany reported better than expected fourth quarter economic results. Although Germany's economy shrank by 0.2 percent, it was less than the 0.3 percent contraction that was widely expected. Germany also had its third quarter...
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Moody's Downgrades Multiple EU Countries, Warns UK and France
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 - 7:39am | 809Stock prices across Europe fell during early Tuesday trading after Moody's Investors Service downgraded the credit ratings of several European Union countries. Moody's downgraded the credit ratings of Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain and gave each of them a negative outlook as well. The...
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Italy's Borrowing Costs Fall
Monday, February 13, 2012 - 1:26pm | 798Italy saw its borrowing costs drop significantly on Monday, following the Greek Parliament's approval of another set of austerity measures. Passage of the austerity measures were crucial in order for Greece to receive its next round of bailout funds and to avoid a possible default. European Union...
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And Now It's Portugal
Monday, January 30, 2012 - 10:32am | 428On Monday, the yield on the 5-year Portuguese note spiked. The yield hit a record for the post-euro era of 22.69%. The trade may have been fueled by the turn of events in Greece. The general perception of the market may be to accept Greece's default as a given. Last year, markets appeared...
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Euro Plunges. Should You Go Long?
Friday, January 13, 2012 - 2:57pm | 813Friday the thirteenth lived up to its ominous reputation as far as the Euro is concerned. The common currency of a union long haunted by financial inviability hit lows not seen in 17 months today driven by S&P sovereign downgrade rumors and halted talks on Greek debt. To a lesser extent,...
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How to Profit from German Minister's New Year's Prediction
Friday, December 30, 2011 - 1:34pm | 7062011 has been a tough year for the Euro Zone countries. The sovereign debt crisis has shaken investors' confidence in the Euro currency and bond yields of a number of Sothern European countries have been at record highs. These red flags have been big enough to catch credit agencies attention too...
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Italy Considering 30 Billion Euros of Austerity Measures
Monday, December 5, 2011 - 9:02am | 602Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti is asking his country's parliament to pass another round of austerity measures aimed at preventing an Italian default. The latest set of austerity measures being presented to the Italian Parliament is said to be around 30 billion euros ($40 billion). The measures...
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How to Profit from Call for Deeper Eurozone Integration
Thursday, December 1, 2011 - 10:42am | 560European Central Bank President Mario Draghi told the European Parliament on Thursday that the eurozone must become more integrated. Draghi said that the most important step in leading the eurozone out of its current sovereign debt crisis would be to create a new "shared fiscal compact" in which...
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Finance Ministers Struggle to Solve Eurozone Crisis
Tuesday, November 29, 2011 - 11:45am | 523Finance ministers from the 17 countries that use the euro as their currency met on Tuesday in yet another effort to avoid a financial collapse that could mean the end of the euro. The finance ministers are discussing a wide range of possible solutions to the current sovereign debt crisis. The...
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Moody's Warns That All EU Debt Is Risky
Monday, November 28, 2011 - 9:48am | 537Moody's Investors Service sounded the alarm early on Monday morning that the credit ratings of all members of the European Union were now at risk because of the financial crisis that has been escalating in Europe for more than a year. The ratings agency said that the financial crisis that has...
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Germany Denies "Elite Bonds" Rumors
Monday, November 28, 2011 - 9:30am | 531Germany is denying reports that Germany, France and four other Eurozone members with triple A credit ratings are reportedly considering issuing "Elite Bonds". According to German magazine Die Welt, the governments of Germany, France, Austria, Finland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have discussed...
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German Finance Minister Pushes for EU Treaty Changes
Monday, November 28, 2011 - 9:12am | 477German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the European Union needs to quickly enact treaty changes in order to better deal with the eurozone financial crisis. The German Finance Minister said that a treaty change was needed so that the European Union could have veto power over the budgets of...