A survey is showing that business activity in Europe has fallen to a 35-month low. In response, the euro fell to a 22-month low against the US Dollar.
European leaders failed to reach an agreement on how to handle the crisis as a proposal by French President Francois Hollande for pan-European bonds was opposed by German pending “more economic discipline” across Europe. Continue reading
Schools and universities in Spain closed in protest today because the government is planning to cut more than twenty percent from budgets.
The cuts, which will increase class sizes and require teachers to work more hours for the same pay, will force university tuition feeds to jump by more than twenty-five percent. Continue reading
JPMorgan Chase has suspended share buybacks in the wake of the $2 billion hedging loss.
The CIO of the company has been telling investors that the company has an $8 billion unrealized profit this year despite taking the actions to suspend the buybacks. Continue reading
Markets across Europe were rocked this morning after more bad economic news for banks in Spain.
Late Thursday credit agency Moody’s cut the credit ratings of sixteen Spanish banks. Moody’s also cut the credit rating of Santander UK, the British subsidiary of Spanish banking giant Santander.
Moody’s stated reasons for the downgrade included Spain’s return to a recession, bad loans in the property industry and financial challenges for the government. Continue reading
Shares in the Spanish bank, Bankia, were down 14% after reports about the struggling bank’s finances.
The bank denied reports that customers had withdrawn over 1 billion euros from various accounts. The bank is set to be part-nationalized.
A Royal Bank of Scotland spokesman said that the problem is that the Spanish government cannot bear all the weight of the banks in Spain should they all fail at the same time. Continue reading
California’s budget deficit has swollen to $16 billion after legislators ignored Governor Jerry Brown’s calls for cost cuts.
Governor Brown had estimated in January that the budget would be short by $9.2 billion dollars. The federal government stepped in to block budget cutting measures and tax revenue was $2 billion under projections which led to the increase in the deficit. Continue reading
Ina Drew, the chief investment officer for JPMorgan Chase, resigned after 30 years with the company due to mismanagement that led to a $2 billion dollar loss by the largest US bank. The bank’s co-chief of global fixed income will take over as CIO.
The poor investments have apparently been restricted to the company’s London office where other staff members are expected to resign or be terminated. Continue reading