“If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Bernard Baruch

1. BHP Billiton to spend around $4.5 bln on shale gas in 2012 — BHP Billiton plans to spend around $4.5 billion on developing shale gas in 2012 following two shale gas acquisitions this year.
2. Italian yields head back towards 7 percent — Italian government bond yields climbed back towards 7 percent and even non-German triple-A rated issuers saw premiums over safe-haven Bunds mark new highs as a change of government in Italy failed to ease the euro zone debt crisis.
3. Harrisburg misses deadline for bankruptcy plan — the capital of Pennsylvania will let the state or a federal bankruptcy judge determine how it will get out of $318 million in debt after missing the last deadline on Monday to come up with a solution of its own as reported by Reuter.
4. Spain Under Siege As Euro Debt Crisis Hits New Stage — Spain’s borrowing costs climbed to the highest level in the euro era, even after the European Central Bank bought the country’s bonds according to IBD.
The 10-year yield rose about 10 basis points to 6.44%, rapidly approaching the unsustainable 7% level.
5. Fitch warns on U.S. exposure to eurozone — Fitch warned that the credit worthiness of U.S. banks faces a “serious risk” of worsening if the crisis spreads beyond the five most-troubled nations of Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com: