Italy Under Pressure As Bond Yields Blow Past 7%
Berlusconi wasn't the only problem, as doubts persist about ability to finance massive deficit.
Steve Schaefer, Forbes Staff
Active conversation:
4 comments
Berlusconi wasn't the only problem, as doubts persist about ability to finance massive deficit.
Steve Schaefer, Forbes Staff
Active conversation:
4 comments
Tom Aspray, Contributor
Chris Barth, Forbes Staff
A day after Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi promised to quit upon the passage of austerity measures, yields on 10-year Italian bonds surged well past 7%, a level considered economically unsustainable, putting pressure on global equity markets and on French bonds, which could be the next weak link in the euro zone. read »
For more than a year, the European sovereign debt crisis was defined thusly: the world could handle the turmoil in piglets like Portugal, Ireland and Greece, but once the tumult migrated to full-grown Italy and Spain things would be at risk of going very badly, very quickly. read »
Over the past month, several smartphone sector 4Q11 forecasts have spooked investors. One likely reason for this is a mixture of cooling North American demand combined with actual YoY unit volume declines in Europe. read »
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It comes as no surprise that Europe's sovereign debt crisis will lead to tighter fiscal conditions and slower growth. In a Nov. 8 note, Citi Investment Research warns that U.S. companies with substantial sales exposure to Europe, particularly those with leveraged balance sheets, could see weakness as growth estimates come down across the Atlantic. The stocks that follow are the ten biggest S&P 500 components by market cap that draw at least 20% of sales from Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and have more than 35% debt-to-capital ratios.
US stock futures are headed for a sharply lower open Wednesday as Italian borrowing costs spiral out of control.S&P futures are 30 handles lower this morning as the Italian 10-year bond yield surged above 7%, a dangerously high and unsustainable level. The spike has rekindled fears that the European sovereign debt crisis is beyond repair and spiraling dangerously out of control. read »
It doesn't matter that the big emerging markets like Brazil and China are in better fiscal shape than all of Europe. It doesn't matter that long term growth trends favor Asia, or that high volume names like oil and gas company Petrobras (PBR) is trading at 2008 multiples and sitting on some of the biggest oil finds on the planet. The European sovereign debt crisis has the emerging markets in a Cobra Clutch. The bell has rung. It's a count out. This match is over for 2011. read »
It's a good day not to be holding Italian debt. Unfortunately that's not the case for U.S. financial companies. read »
The Kindle Fire could be the iPad’s first serious contender in the tablet market, a recent survey published by RBC Capital Market suggests. Pre-launch demand for Amazon's tablet exceeds pre-launch buying intentions for Apple’s iPad back in February 2010, the survey showed, indicating that if the Kindle Fire keeps the “buzz” going with favorable user reviews and reactions, it could become a heavy hitter in the exponentially growing tablet market. read »
It's not that famed green tech guru and Sun Microsystems founder Vinod Khosla is against electric vehicles, per se. It's just that pumping another $10,000 worth of batteries into an expensive car designed to burn less fossil fuel is not for the masses. Building a cheaper car, a $10,000 fuel efficient vehicle, is more worthy of an investment. read »
