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Gold holds near record as haven buying supports Jan Harvey LONDON Fri Jun 18, 2010 6:40am EDT 7:40pm GMT+0900 LONDON (Reuters) - Gold held within reach of record highs in Europe on Friday as buyers looked to it as a haven against persistent fears of sovereign risk in Europe and after lackluster U.S. data raised doubts over wider economic recovery. The precious metal's gains were limited, however, as immediate concerns over the euro's outlook were allayed by solid demand at Spanish bond auctions, which eased fears about the government's debt-servicing ability. Spot gold was bid at $1,244.65 an ounce at...

As Americans observe the chaos in Greece, most assume that the strength of our currency, the credit worthiness of our government, and the vast expanse of two oceans, will prevent a similar scene from playing out in our streets. I believe these protections to be illusory. Once again the vast majority fails to see a crisis in the making, even as it stares at them from close range. Just as market observers in 2007 told us that the credit crisis would be confined to the subprime mortgage market, current analysts tell us that sovereign debt problems are confined to Greece,...

Soros Warns of Market Crash Thursday, April 15, 2010 10:58 AM Railway porter-turned-billionaire financier George Soros delivered a stark warning that the financial world is on the wrong track and that it may be hurtling towards an even bigger boom and bust than in the credit crisis. The man who ‘broke’ the Bank of England (and who is still able to earn a cool $3.3 billion in a year) said the same strategy of borrowing and spending that had got us out of the Asian crisis could shunt the financial world towards another crisis unless tough lessons are learned. Soros,...

Markets spooked as Greek rescue plan crumbles Europe’s rescue plan for Greece appears to be crumbling after the country threatened to call in the International Monetary Fund unless Brussels comes up with real money on acceptable terms within a week. By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard Published: 5:30AM GMT 19 Mar 2010 The inability of the eurozone to put together a viable package after a month of talks has dismayed markets, which thought the terms of a deal had already been agreed. Yields on 10-year Greek bonds spiked 17 basis points yesterday to 6.26pc. The euro fell two cents against the dollar to...

Sovereign Debt Woes: Who's the 'U' in STUPID? Posted By: Patrick Allen | CNBC Senior News Editor CNBC.com | 02 Mar 2010 | 10:01 AM ET PIIGS has become a financial crisis acronym to rival BRIC, ASAP and WML (whatever major loser for those over 15). Now, though, a new acronym is being talked about in the corridors of power and it is all about the economy, STUPID. STUPID is said to stand for Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, Portugal, Ireland and Dubai. That's six countries that got themselves into trouble with high borrowing over the last few years and now worry...

February 14, 2010 Wall St. Helped Greece to Mask Debt Fueling Europe’s Crisis By LOUISE STORY, LANDON THOMAS Jr. and NELSON D. SCHWARTZ Wall Street tactics akin to the ones that fostered subprime mortgages in America have worsened the financial crisis shaking Greece and undermining the euro by enabling European governments to hide their mounting debts. As worries over Greece rattle world markets, records and interviews show that with Wall Street’s help, the nation engaged in a decade-long effort to skirt European debt limits. One deal created by Goldman Sachs helped obscure billions in debt from the budget overseers in...

Between Dire And Disastrous The news is somewhat "All Greece, All the Time," but most of the pieces miss the more critical elements, and in today's letter we will look at what I think those are, as well as at the important point that Greece is a precursor of a new era of sovereign risk. Plus, we glance at a few rather silly recent comments from economists. It will make for a very interesting discussion. /snip A Path-Dependent World Path dependence explains how the set of decisions one faces for any given circumstance is limited by the decisions one has...

It took the Obama administration less than a year to reduce the United States from the country with a currency that is considered a safe haven when international storms threaten, to one that is warned by a rating agency that unless it mends its profligate ways it will lose the triple-A credit rating it has had since U.S. government debt was first assessed in 1917. Who would have thought when Barack Obama took the oath of office some eleven months ago that Dubai World, Greece, the UK, and America would attract the attention of the rating agencies in the same...

Which Big Country Will Default First? by Martin Hutchinson November 09, 2009 Of the world's six largest economies, three currently have budget and public debt positions that if allowed to fester will push those nations into bankruptcy (the seventh largest, Italy, also has a budget and debt position that is highly vulnerable, but its problems appear chronic rather than acute). Given the proclivities of modern politicians for delaying pain and avoiding problems, it is likely that festering is just what those positions will do. So which major country, the United States, Japan or Britain, will default first on its foreign...

Government Risk Rises: Credit Markets Face Structural Collapse by: Rakesh Saxena January 26, 2009 As credit default swap spreads for 5-year British government debt rose to 150 basis points last week, one European regulator raised a significant concern regarding the balance sheets of banks on both sides of the Atlantic. "If you follow the rating agencies, well and good, but if you apply default risk prices to banking assets, capital adequacy ratios of nearly all western banks are open to question," she warned, after watching Euro-based spreads on U.S. government debt rising to 75 bps, and after noting that few...

Cost of US loans bail-out emerging By Krishna Guha in Washington and Michael Mackenzie and Nicole Bullock in New York Published: September 9 2008 15:57 | Last updated: September 9 2008 21:27 The US on Tuesday began to face the financial consequences of the bail-out of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac after Congress’s budget watchdog said the housing giants’ operations should sit on the government’s books and the cost of insuring against a US default started to rise. /snip The price of credit default swaps on five-year US government debt rose to a record 17.5 basis points in early trading,...