Another bad source for investment advice
WSJ December 8, 2009 my bolds
advice for the individual investor:
Why Foreign Bonds Make Sense For Income-Oriented Investors . by Jennifer Levitz
actual news from the foreign bond market
DECEMBER 9, 2009
Countries' Debt Woes Pose Risk to Upturn
By JOANNA SLATER, BRIAN BLACKSTONE and MARCUS WALKER
WSJ today page one
Debt Fears Rattle Europe
By MARCUS WALKER
The euro tumbled as debt woes spread around the euro zone from Greece, where pledges of austerity and fiscal rigor failed to stem growing fears that the Continent's economic recovery could be derailed.
The euro fell as low as $1.4505 on Tuesday, its lowest level since early October. New worries about Austrian banking also roiled markets, with rumors of trouble at an Austrian lender with shaky investments in Eastern Europe following Monday's surprise nationalization of another Austrian bank at the behest of the European Central Bank.
Greece is just "the tip of the iceberg," said Norbert Barthle, budget spokesman for the ruling Christian Democratic Union of German chancellor Angela Merkel. The exploding budget deficits of weaker economies have forced Germany and other financially stronger countries to think about how to shore up other members of the euro zone against a potential financial-market rout.
Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain, a group traders have disparagingly dubbed "PIIGS," all have huge budget deficits and very low growth prospects, which means their debt is on course to rise further, fast.
The countries' wages and costs have steadily risen, but as euro-zone members they can't respond by devaluing their currency, a problem that strains the bonds tying together the currency bloc. Their soaring deficits are testing the credibility of the euro zone's so-called stability pact, in which governments promise not to spend wildly.
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