Signs of EU disintegration on every side.

Italy has to borrow some €300 billion next year. Today that country, with protests in evidence and reported on its streets, had to pay an extra 2.5% interets over the last such exercise, for a five year loan. Now that is an extra €7.5 billion extra annual costs, if that interest rate increase can be simply maintained over the coming year.

Credit Agricole, the large French bank, has announced job cuts of 2,350 worlwide this afternoon, read here:



The crumbling "Fiscal Compact", supposedly ready by next March at the weekend, has now been optimistically put back to June, read here, laughingly in that same report Merkel is reported rattling the cash tin for contributions to the longer term ESM, when all else must be wondering how their own present spending plans can possibly be mainntained.

Austrian banks face the consequences Swiss Franc strength!

In an attempt to halt the interminable rise of the Swiss Franc against the mortally wounded Euro, hints were made yesterday that the former currency could be pegged to the Euro. If I know the Swiss, such a move for anything other than the very shortest time scan is impossible in a country which still proudly maintains its direct democracy.

Austrian banks are now coming under pressure from their exposure to East European debt denominated in Swiss Francs, read here, as I had expected when suggesting on this posting of 3rd August, that their euro notes not be among those you take home after your summer holidays this year.

Is Von Rompuy's bemusement shifting attention to Belgium's bonds?

Von Rompuy's widely reported asinine comments on the latest developments surrounding the doomed euro currency are perhap focussing market attention on the nation that produced, and allowed to clamber to the top, such a clearly clueless individual. Reuters highlights the widening gap between Belgium (and indeed France) versus the real core EU country Germany, in a report just in and linked here. The following is the particular quote:

Ten-year Belgian and French spreads over Bunds hit fresh euro era highs at 209 bps and 81 bps respectively, in a sign that Italy's underperformance has raised fears the euro zone crisis could hit core economies as well.
"Equities everywhere seem to be under a lot of pressure. (Belgium) is probably the next weaker nation after Italy. It is not surprising to me that they are struggling," a trader said.