The Evolution of EFSF
It seems so long ago, but it was just over a year ago the EFSF was first created. The first iteration was set up in a way that although the headline number seemed relatively large, the amount that would ever be lent was under 300 billion euros as there were various holdbacks and other mechanisms […]
Italy Votes, IMF Gives, and EFSF Yields Increase
Italy rejected the budget today. I can’t imagine that it is because the opposition wanted more austerity. That must make the Slovakians even more eager to provide the EFSF with money to buy Italian bonds. The IMF has declared that they went to Greece (because they had purchased non-refundable tickets) but are going to give […]
While Everyone Is Making Fun of the Slovak Republic…
It seems like the Slovak Republic will agree to the current plan. It seems like some politicians have decided that getting a general election and a chance to be in charge and have power is worth selling out what they believe in. In the meantime, with the current structure the Slovak Republic, as small as […]
Equity Traders Petition to Create More Bond Market Holidays
Yesterday was one of the strangest days in a while – and that is from a long list of strange days. The most confusing part is that over the weekend Dexia went through some form of nationalization – the details of which and the need for which remain sketchy. Erste decided to take some big […]
Nike Changes Slogan To “Just Get It”
On an otherwise quiet day, where the stock market puts the finishing touches on a 10% bounce in less than a week, Nike has realized, “Just Getting It” is now enough. “Just Doing It” is so 1900’s. Why actually DO something when you can get all the benefits from sitting around and talking about doing […]
Today’s New Twist
So today, MAIN and SOVX, European CDS indices waited for US stocks to open before moving to their tightest levels on the day. So in a completely bizarro world, the markets that are most directly affected by this weekends statements and actions have a muted reaction, until the US stock market, with market least directly […]
Dexlexia, Scrabble Countries, and Humpty Dumpty
After another weekend on headlines coming out of Europe stock futures are up nicely and credit, while better, isn’t performing quite as well and sovereign debt yields are up across the board. After a quick glance at the credit markets and the headlines, it seems once again that equities have gotten ahead of themselves. Dexlexia […]
Headlines that Dexia will be nationalized – Belgium Update
I swear no one from Moody’s is on the distribution list, but they just got put on -ve watch by Moody’s. Seems like they mentioned, tough to get funding for weaker countries already, economic conditions deteriorating, making that problem more pronounced, and “uncertainty around the impact on the already pressured balance sheet of the government […]
MS CDS – The Saga Continues
Today, the CDS market is highly efficient. It is both liquid and ringing with endorsement for Morgan Stanley. It is clear that the credit analysts, who once again are good predictors of the future, have done their homework and decided that Morgan Stanley is safe. Without a doubt some of the concerns are being addressed. […]