SG: Eco Analysis - French inflation fractionally up, at 2.5% in October, Euro area inflation set to be firm at 3.0% (M. Martinez)

2011.11.10 04:37 AM
Eco Analysis - French inflation fractionally up, at 2.5% in October, Euro area inflation set to be firm at 3.0% (M. Martinez)

■ Overall price pressures remained firm in October in France and in the euro area

Inflation remains firm, despite the fact the euro debt crisis is curbing economic growth. Consumer price inflation in France edged higher in October. The harmonized rate increased to 2.5% yoy from 2.4%, while the national measure rose from 2.2% to 2.3%. Separately, the German HICP was slightly higher than the preliminary estimate (+0.1% mom, +2.9% yoy). Despite this fact, there is no change in our forecast for the euro-area measure, which is still expected to have been steady at 3.0% yoy (+0.3% mom). All these data indicate that overall price pressures remained firm in October in the euro area. Indeed, HICP probably rose by 5.1% on a 3 month annualized basis in the euro area in October (France: 3.3%, Germany: 1.1%, Italy: 13.4%, Spain: 6.4%).

Business Week: Losing It on the Home Front

Losing It on the Home Front
Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 9, 2011 at 2:15 PM

The housing crisis just keeps grinding on. Home prices fell in three-quarters of U.S. cities in the third quarter, by double digits in some places, according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors. The median U.S. house price, $164,500, is now 28 percent below its 2006 peak and about where prices stood in Feb. 2003. Fewer people plan to buy a home over the next six months, according to the Conference Board. And another survey of homeowners finds that nearly as many think of owning a home as a “nightmare” as consider it an “American Dream.”

CNNMoney: Italy: Definitely too big to fail, maybe too big to bail

Europe's Debt Crisis
Italy: Definitely too big to fail, maybe too big to bail
By Douglas J. Elliott @CNNMoney November 10, 2011: 5:32 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Douglas J. Elliott, who worked as an investment banker for two decades, is a fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Bloomberg: Too Big to Rescue Italy Forces EMU to Crossroads: Euro Credit

Too Big to Rescue Italy Forces EMU to Crossroads: Euro Credit
By Mark Gilbert and Jesse Westbrook - 2011.11.10 01:51 AM

Italy is forcing Europe to choose between increased bond buying by the European Central Bank or a possible breakup of the euro.

USA Today: Foreclosure backlogs could take decades to clear out

Foreclosure backlogs could take decades to clear out
By Julie Schmit, USA TODAY
2011.11.08 07:14 PM

Foreclosure sales are moving so slowly in half the states that at the current pace, it will take more than eight years on average to clear the 2.1 million homes in foreclosure or with seriously delinquent mortgages, new research shows.

CNNMoney: Greek debt crisis: Shades of Argentina

Europe's Debt Crisis
Greek debt crisis: Shades of Argentina
By James O'Toole @CNNMoney November 8, 2011: 11:17 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Barack Obama, Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel descended on the G-20 summit last week intent on stabilizing Greece and resolving the European debt crisis. But Athens may instead end up seeking guidance from an unlikely source: Argentina.

USA Today: Mortgage payments show surprising rise in delinquencies

Mortgage payments show surprising rise in delinquencies
By Eileen AJ Connelly, Associated Press
2011.11.08 08:20 AM

NEW YORK – While lawmakers in Washington debated the debt ceiling and consumer confidence dropped, more homeowners were having a harder time making their mortgage payments.

Bloomberg: Europe Crisis Timeline: Maastricht to Papandreou

Europe Crisis Timeline: Maastricht to Papandreou
By Bloomberg News - 2011.11.06 05:01 PM

Following is a timeline of Europe’s debt crisis from the signing of the Maastricht Treaty to Greece’s agreement to set up a government of national unity.

1992 Feb. 7: Maastricht Treaty signed, setting up an “irrevocable” monetary union without a central finance ministry or a mechanism to leave the euro.

SG: Global Economic Outlook - Outlook 2012: Euro area will be knocked into recession

Global Economic Outlook - Outlook 2012: Euro area will be knocked into recession
2011.11.06 04:47 PM

■ Outlook 2012: Euro area will be knocked into recession

The bombshell of the announcement of the Greek referendum (now off the agenda) and new twists and turns in Italian politics made the decline in financial stress offered by the euro summit agreement only fleeting. The persistence of this extremely high level of financial stress is the trigger for the downgrade to our global economic outlook, and we now see recession in the euro area. Our full year 2012 forecast now stands at 0% for the euro area, 1.4% for the US and 8.1% for China, which places us below consensus for both 2012 and 2013. Against this backdrop, we expect G4 central banks to pursue an extended period of policy accommodation. The risk to the forecasts remains skewed to the downside with potential for fiscal policy errors, notably in the euro area and the US.

CNNMoney: Europe: the worst-case scenarios

Europe's Debt Crisis
Europe: the worst-case scenarios
By Steve Hargreaves @CNNMoney November 5, 2011: 9:28 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The immediate threat in Greece has passed. But the crisis is far from over.