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As if Spain needed any more bad news, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published its much-anticipated review of Spain on Friday, painting a bleak outlook for the future of the Spanish economy. In its report, the IMF expects Spain's economic contraction to deepen and continue for longer. The...

The U.S. Treasury Thursday sold 30-year bonds at record low yields of 2.58 percent, well below the previous auction's yield of 2.72 percent. The low yields confirm the flight to safety that has been seen in financial markets over the last few trading days. The U.S. Treasury sold $13 billion of 30-...

Heading into Sunday's Greek elections, world markets have been moving higher. For the week, the S&P 500 is trading up a little less than 1%. A modest rally started on Thursday and has carried over into Friday. The catalyst for the move higher in stocks, despite the steep risks posed by this...

Earlier this morning, Spanish 10-year bond yields hit euro-area highs for the second day in a row, barely staying below the dreaded 7% level. The 7% level is significant as it suggests the need for a bailout. When the 10-year yields of Greece, Portugal, and Ireland hit that level they all needed a...

Investors who shorted the iShares MSCI Spain Index Fund (NYSE: EWP) over the last few months could have made a nice buck. Now, with Spain's banking problems escalating into a full-blown crisis, investors may be looking for other ways to play the Spanish pain. With Spanish bond yields blowing out to...

It feels as though the market went from discussing a Greek exit as a very unlikely event to now the most likely endgame for Europe. The question is, what would a Greek exit actually look like and how would it play out? The answer can be seen in the way that the US authorities, along with other...

With the glory days of Spain's rapid economic boom of the mid-nineties long since passed, the new prime-minister Mariano Rajoy, in office since December, is currently faced with three major problems afflicting the country: high unemployment, budget deficits, and excessive weakness of the banking...

The ECB did not change its rates earlier today, consistent with investor expectations. Both Spain and France had strong demand for bond auctions today. Spain's yield was nearly 5% on its longest term offering, a significant increase. With ECB rates holding steady at a record low 1%, today's...

Futures were trading lower throughout the morning after a Spanish bond auction yielded results that were worse than anticipated. Yet, markets fell further still after the ECB's Mario Draghi made comments following the ECB's decision to keep interest rates at 1%. Draghi, who is currently speaking,...