Week Jan 6 2012 – Weekly Recap & The Week Ahead
Monday, January 9th, 2012HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
1. Greece must clinch bailout deal or face euro exit-spokesman — Greece faces an exit from Europe’s common currency bloc unless it clinches a deal on a second, 130 billion euro bailout with its international lenders. EU, IMF and ECB inspectors are expected in Athens mid-January to flesh out the new bailout plan agreed in principle by EU leaders in October.
2. Tensions rise in Persian Gulf — Iran threatened Tuesday to take action if the U.S. Navy moves an aircraft carrier into the Gulf, Tehran’s most aggressive statement yet after weeks of saber-rattling as new U.S. and EU financial sanctions take a toll on its economy.
3. World’s Biggest Economies Face $7.6T Debt — Governments of the world’s leading economies have more than $7.6 trillion of debt maturing this year, with most facing a rise in borrowing costs. Japan leads the way with $3T, followed by the U.S. with $2.8T. Crucially, Italy will need to raise $428B and pay another $70B in interest.
4. Romney Wins Iowa — Romney edged out Rick Santorum, a conservative former Pennsylvania senator, by only eight votes in Iowa’s caucuses, the first presidential nominating contest of 2012, as each received about 25 percent of the vote.
5. France sells 8B euros of debt, 10-year yield rises — Marketwatch, The French government sold 8 billion euros ($10.3 billion) of various government bonds, including 4.02 billion euros of 10-year bonds. France’s debt agency said the 10-year auction attracted 6.61 billion euros of bids, producing a yield of 3.29%. That’s up from 3.18% in a December sale. Bids exceeded the amount sold 1.6 times, down from a bid-to-cover ratio of 3.1 in December.
6. Kodak faces Chapter 11 — Eastman Kodak (EK) plans to file for bankruptcy protection if efforts in the next few weeks to sell a horde of digital patents fall flat, The Wall Street Journal reports.
7. German industrial orders plummet — German new industrial orders for November have indicated more woe for the eurozone’s economic engine with a monthly fall of 4.8%, well below a rise of 5% in October and a forecast of -1.7%.
8. Iran to hold new naval exercises — Iran’s Revolutionary Guards will hold new naval exercises in the strategic Strait of Hormuz in February, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported.
The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:
