Eurozone

The price of sweet light crude oil futures has steadily rose throughout the month of February. The month ended with the price of Cushing Crude Oil on a 9-month high at $107.07 per barrel. Overall, the price went up 9.6% last month, which is the second highest percentage increase in a month -...

It seems that the Euro bulls will jump on any passing bandwagon these days. It is very clear that there are some big names out there who are desperate to avoid a sub 1.30 slide in EURUSD (at least for the time being). Despite riots on the streets of Greece and elsewhere, Europhiles everywhere...

Despite getting bad publicity from Moody's Investors Service recently, France and Spain both conducted bond auctions on Thursday that the two countries deemed successful. Earlier this week Spain was downgraded and France was put on downgrade watch by Moody's but the two Eurozone countries managed...

Moody's Investors Service announced that it was placing more than 100 European financial institutions in 16 countries on review for possible downgrades. Reasons for the possible downgrades that were cited by Moody's included the Eurozone financial crisis, earlier downgrades of multiple Eurozone...

Those of us that were looking for some sort of resolution on the Greek debt crisis that would firmly point the dial in one direction or the other have once again been disappointed. Despite another round of bailouts - this time about 130 billion euros on top of the original 110 billion euro 2010...

Whenever Greece takes a step forward in addressing its financial crisis, the country then seems to take two steps back. Greece's chances of avoiding a painful default seem to have taken yet another step back, as Eurozone finance ministers have questioned the country's willingness to commit to...

The Japanese stock market closed at a 6 month high on Wednesday, a day after the Bank of Japan made the unexpected announcement that it was increasing its asset purchase and lending program and had set its official inflation goal at 1 percent. The Nikkei 225 index of Japanese stocks climbed 208.27...

For 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...

France and Belgium have both lifted restrictions on the short selling of financial stocks that were put in place last year after several major European financial institutions saw their stock prices fall dramatically. Stock prices for French banking giants BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Societe...

Italy 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...

Late Sunday night, Greece's parliament passed yet another bill enacting further austerity measures. As the result of this plan being passed, the country will likely get the next tranche of its bailout financing from the Troika. Greece may then be able to avoid defaulting in March, when the country...

Japan's economy shrank more than expected during the last quarter of 2011, as a strong yen and floods in Thailand hampered Japanese efforts to recover from last year's earthquake and tsunami. The Japanese economy shrank an annualized 2.3% during the 4th quarter, which was a much bigger drop than...

The Bank of England announced on Thursday its decision to inject another 50 billion pounds into the British economy, in an effort to support the United Kingdom's economic recovery. The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted to increase the size of its of asset purchase program by 50...

A new a day, a new headline for Greece. Today, reports are floating around the market that a Greek debt deal continues to inch closer. The European Central Bank is reportedly willing to take a haircut on its Greek debt holdings. Yet, given the general trend in the way events have transpired,...

Every one of Asia's major stock markets ended trading on Wednesday higher, as hopes of a deal between Greece and its creditors were on the rise. Asian stock markets have been sensitive to any news coming out of Europe regarding the financial crisis that the region has been experiencing. A Greek...