Euro cash: 10th anniversary

Dear reader,

the new year is also an anniversary for the existence of the Euro bills & coins some media are honoring that occasion with some special reports:

Jan 03rd 2012 Euro Hits New Lows
Jan  01st 2012 The last secrets of the euro banknotes (ger)
Dec 31st 2011 Not so europhoric now: How the BBC has changed its tune after ten years of the single currency
Dec 31st 2011 Euro cash nears its 10th anniversary
Dec 31st 2011 No Fireworks for Euro as It Reaches 10-Year Mark

Dec 31st 2011 The rise and fall of the euro, ten years on

Dec 31st 2011 10 years of Euro (dut video)

Dec 31st 2011 10 years of Euro: No euphoria at anniversary day (ger)

Dec 31st 2011 The story of the Euro in numbers (dut)

Tobin tax for Europe (at least)

					Dear reader,
					one of the many subjects of the crisis approach by EU politicians is the introduction of a Tobin tax. Some players are vividly for its introduction  , some were first skeptical now seemingly not opposed to it anymore and Britain was estranged from continental Europe mainly because of such measures likely to be imposed by EU Commission & national political players.
					As the author here became confused himself who is for/ against/undecided it is time to present a compilation of latest developments on this tax on financial transactions.
					Germany:
Feb	28th	2012	#		Barry Eichengreen: Tobin tax is a mistake (FTD)
Jan	14th	2012	#		FTT: The Robin Hood tax #( FAZ)
Jan	13th	2012	#		Merkel doesn't want to enforce FTT against will of FDP coalition partner (AFP)
Jan	12th	2012	#		Preventing a relocation of financial activities (FDP)
Jan	10th	2012	#		Merkel takes Sarkozy more serious than FDP #(WSJDeutschland)
Dec	26th	2011	#		Schäuble pushes the gas throttle in struggle for Tobin tax (reuters)
Aug	20th	2011	#		FTT: Resistance against Merkel and Sarkozy (ftd.de)
					The Netherlands:
Jan	14th	2012	*		10% less pensions by European FTT (vno ncw)
Sep	29th	2011	*		Cabinet dislikes plan of Barroso completely (nuzakelijk)
					CPB: "Financial transaction tax not efficient"(translated version of RTLnieuws)
Oct	22nd	2011			Netherlands Supports Financial Transaction Tax, Rutte Says (Bloomberg)
					France:
Nov	15th	2012			Speculators Find Loopholes in French Transaction Tax (BBG)
Jan	14th	2012			France eyes all securities with Tobin tax (Reuters)
					France ready to go solo on financial transaction tax (France 24 )
			%		Sarkozy wants faster implementation of Tobin tax (Le Monde)
			#		G20 meeting: Sarkozy demands financial transaction tax (Frankfurter Rundschau)
			%		French financial sector against isolated initiative by Paris (France24)
	Apr 10th 2013				Tobin Tax is madness for Europe, and economic war against Britain
					Austria:
May	18th	2010			FTT: Government split (Wienerzeitung)
May	25th	2010	#		ÖVP (=conservatives) wants "FTT light" (DiePresse)
Sep	17th	2011	#		FTT invokes controversy  (Wirtschaftsblatt)
			#		(austrian finance minister) Fekter: "Hail Barroso's announcement of a FTT“ (Austrian government news summary)
					Italy:
					PDL says they would only support a Tobin Tax if adopted by all EU members. #Italy (via @AlbertoNardelli)
Jan	8th	2012	%		Italy open to a Tobin tax on European scale (TF1)
Jan	8th	2012			Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti: 'The euro is not in crisis' (Telegraph)
					EU:
Jan	9th	2012			Tobin tax 'could leave €116bn hole in EU finances', Ernst & Young warns (Telegraph)
Oct	3rd	2011			European politicians plot to block UK veto on 'Tobin tax'(Telegraph)
Dep	28th	2011			FTT: EU commission wants to tax financial transactions (Focus)
					UK:
					Subject: Tobin tax (Guardian )
					George Osborne attacks Tobin tax (Telegraph video)
Dec	6th	2011			Paddy Ashdown: We need a Tobin tax – but not to fill black holes (The Independent)
Jan	8th	2012			David Cameron: I will block EU financial transaction tax (Telegraph)
Jan	9th	2012			Tobin tax 'could leave €116bn hole in EU finances', Ernst & Young warns (Telegraph)
					Denmark:
Jan	10th	2012	#		Denmark also against EU wide Tobin tax. Also a topic at meeting Lagarde/Merkel (Deutschlandfunk )
					Sweden:
Jan	16th	2012			Ex-minister: financial transactions tax 'failed' (The local)
					other:
May	17th	2010	#		Attac: 270 bn Euro from financial transaction tax (Die Presse)
			#		Special reporting on FTT subject by diepresse.com
Oct	15th	2009	#		Sense and nonsense of FTT (Profil)
					#=german *=dutch %=french
					references for Tobin tax:
					The Tobin tax explained
				pdf	James Tobin in a prologue to the book: "The Tobin tax"

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Major Players

Dear reader,

in this section you will find some articles about "major players" of the Eurozone. A section for statements of central bankers is already online and now available material about politicians will be supplied. Main priority is to provide some info of how those "players" are thinking and how they are influenced by their past and their character.
As always don't expect everything to be available from the beginning, but this will also be a "growing knowledge base". So by checking in once in a while you will find more info stored here. Pretty much the same procedure as in the other blog entries were there are the sometimes very dynamic events of the Eurozone are being put into their fitting blog entry (file). Also nothing new is the fact that some valuable info is only available in other languages. But e.g Google translate often delivers some usable results and perhaps a few articles were translated here on this blog. (Of course there will be a link if that's the case)

Eurofun

Cartoon section

Cartoon1 
Greek Exit          
(nur Mut= have courage;Sie verlassen die Eurozone=You are leaving the Eurozone; 
 Das verschafft Dir völlig neue Möglichkeiten=That'll give you completly new opportunities.)


2010 EurOSCAR awards (The economist)

ECB as the lender of last resort (LOLR) Who is for/against/undecided

Dear reader,

this blog entry will be filled with some articles elaborating on known positions of some people of the financial world/ economics / politics.

As always content will be updated constantly in all three categories. Names will be connected to available biographies and numbers will contain a link to an article where their position on LOLR is described. It can be assumed that sometimes more than one source is available and useful. 

If links are in other languages than English: *=dutch;#=german;+=french

for                                              against                                  undecided/other   

François Hollande 1                     Jürgen Stark 1 2#                    Megan Greene 1 
Lucinda Creighton 1                     Jens Weidmann 1 2                 Vítor Constâncio 1 
Dale T. Mortensen 1                    Angela Merkel 1
Bill Gross 1 2                              Gonzalez-Paramo 1
Paul Krugman 1                           Manfred Neumann# 1
Paul de Grauwe 1 2                      Craig Pirrong  1
Charles Wyplosz 1                       Otmar Issing 1
Lex Hoogduin 1*                          Daniel Susskind 1
Bas Jacobs 1*
Nouriel Roubini 1
John Bruton 1
Anibal Cavaco Silva 1
Manmohan Singh 1
Proinsias De Rossa  1
Jacek Rostowski 1
Mariano Rajoy  1

Statements of central bankers

					Dear reader,
					here you will find some statements issued by members of European central banks. Not only by ECB but also some national central banks. As far as policy changes are concerned they will also be added to the blog entry: "calendar and official policies"
Mar	30th	2012	#		Jürgen Stark: „Das Vertrauen in die EZB geht verloren“
Mar	29th	2012			Klaas Knot: Dutch govt negotiations mustn't fail (dut)
Mar	15th	2012			Klaas Knot: The future of EMU and Netherlands' place in Europe(BIS)(pdf,eng)
Mar	14th	2012		pdf	BoE: Towards a common financial language (pdf)
Mar	12th	2012		pdf	DSK's speech in Cambridge on global polical economic challenges  (pdf)
Mar	12th	2012		pdf	Coeré: The reform of financial regulation - priorities from an European Central Bank perspective (pdf)
Jan	20th	2012		pdf	Andreas Dombret: Systemic risk analysis and crisis prevention (pdf)
Jan	19th	2012			BoG chief: Politics is to blame
Jan	18th	2012	%		Gonzalez-Paramo:"A default of Greece is not neccessary and less likely" (fre)
Jan	18th	2012			Hand out smaller bonuses and you can lend more to businesses! Mervyn King blasts banks ahead of payouts
Jan	17th	2012	#		Nowotny: ECB is looking for alternatives to bond purchase programme  (ger)
Jan	13th	2012			Mario Draghi, President of the ECB, Vítor Constâncio, Vice-President of the ECB, Frankfurt am Main, 12 January 2012
Jan	7th	2012	#		Assmussen demands closed ranks among ECB leadership (german link)
Jan	7th	2012	#		ECB Coene: Europe will tackle its debt crisis (german link)
Jan	2nd	2012	*	vid	Nout Wellink: The Netherlands won't get all its money back from Greece (dutch video)
Dec	31st	2011			Euro could become world's leading currency: Noyer
Dec	27th	2011	*		dutch central bank magazine: Interview with DNB director Jan Sijbrand (dutch link)
Dec	24th	2011			ECB's Visco hints at lower rates if economy worsens
Dec	23rd	2011			Juergen Stark admits ECB bond buying forced resignation
			#		Jürgen Stark: "The Eurozone got on a wrong track" (german link)
Dec	20th	2011	#		Bundesbank Nagel: "Bazooka solution wouldn't work" (german link)
Dec	17th	2011	#		ECB chief economist Stark criticizes velocity of Greek reform efforts (german link)
Dec	16th	2011			BoE:  Consolidated worldwide external claims of UK-owned monetary financial institutions (excluding central bank) End-September 2011
Dec	16th	2011	#		OeNB: Stability of financial markets depending on crisis of state debt (german link)
Dec	15th	2011			Czech national bank: CNB and MoF recommend not to set euro adoption date yet
Dec	13th	2011		vid	BoE Dale Says Unclear if BOE Will Add More Stimulus (video)
					* = Dutch, # = German, % = French language

Events after the big Eurozone rescue summit Dec. 9th

					Dear reader,
					so it's now for the governments to hammer out agreements of tighter budget controls and penalty mechanisms for "sinners".
					So in order to keep track of events taking place after the summit you will find here a compilation of such events such as changes in yields, exchange rates and other market reactions as well as advances in legislation agreed upon during the "big summit" of December the 9th. Listed by country as information gets available. The summit results will be put in the "summit & policies" blog entry to be found here. So as always in a fluent situation updates will take place from time to time and since beginning of December you will find a list of updated articles in the section "update policy" in order to see which entries were subjected to such an update.
					- The treaty -
Dec	17th	2011			EU sets out "compact" for tighter fiscal rules
Dec	17th	2011			The latest treaty draft (german link)
Dec	17th	2011	*		Economical union (dut/eng link)
Dec	10th	2011			'Golden rule' seen as answer to currency's woes
					- Markets -
					EUR/USD
Jan	12th	2012			Euro still rising against dollar: $1.2838 now +1.1% after opening below $1.27 at $1.2698 (via @lindayueh)
Jan	9th	2012			EURUSD 1.26685 (via @FGoria)
Jan	5th	2012			Euro: $1.2799 (via ChrisAdamsMKTS)
Jan	5th	2012			EUR/USD hit lowest since Sept 2010 on concern over Europe’s ability to fund sovereigns. After mixed #France bond auction #Euro hit 1.2831. (via @Schuldensuehner)
Dec	14th	2011			Euro rate below 1,30 now
					EUR/CHF
Jan	12th	2012			Euro rate 1,2100 (temporarily) (@djfxtrader)
Dec	15th	2011			Euro rate 1,2255
					Yields/CDS/spreads (be advised that yields can differ from source to source based on different interpretation, no guarantee whatsoever for values given here: Check Reuters, Bloomberg etc !)
					Ger
Jan	18th	2012			Germany received bids for EUR7.596bn for 2 year note auction vs max sales target of EUR4bn. Average yield was 0.17% & strong demand. (via @lindayueh)
Jan	12th	2012	#		Money for nothing: Wall Street Journal Germany
Jan	11th	2012			German 5 year debt auction sold EUR3.153bn vs max EUR4bn, bids for EUR8.97bn, strong demand 2.8 (v Dec 2.12) & yield lower too 0.9% (v 1.1% (via @lindayueh)
Jan	9th	2012			Germany sells EUR3.9bn of 6-month zero-coupon bills for yield of -0.0122% even if demand is slightly lower at 1.8 & just retained EUR100mln. (via @lindayueh)
Jan	4th	2012			Germany received EUR5.14bn of bids for max E5bn, sold E4.057bn at yield 1.93%. Cheaper than Nov 1.98% but it's demand that's what matters. (via @lindayueh)Dec 29th [10y Bond Yields] Germany= 1.86
Dec	17th	2011	#		Commerzbank could not meet capital requirements without public funding (german link)
					Hol
Jan	24th	2012			NETHERLANDS SELLS 1.8B€ VS. €1.5-2.5B INDICATED RANGE IN 2013 AND 2042 BONDS (via @trader1806)
Jan	24th	2012			NETHERLANDS => Sells €465M in 1.75% 2013 Bonds; avg yield 0.074% v 0.861% p - Sells €1.34B in 3.75% 2042 Bonds; avg yield 2.690% v 4.03% p (via @trader1806)
					Aut
Jan	10th	2012			Austria sells 10YR bonds at average yield 3.322%, down from 3.528% in the last July auction but yields rose for 5yr bonds 2.21% v 1.96% Nov (via @lindayueh)
Jan	4th	2012			Österreich-Bonität leidet unter Ungarn-Wirren:Kosten für Kreditversicherungen gegen Zahlungsausfall
					von #Österreich auf über 200BP gestiegen (via @Schuldensuehner)
					Ita
Jan	24th	2012			Italian gov bonds advance for 7th day: 2YR note rises, yield -5bp to 3.53%, 10YR bonds rise, yield -6bp to 6.03% -close to falling below 6% (via @lindayueh)
Jan	20th	2012			Italy Govt Bonds 10 Year Gross Yield 6.306%(via @FGoria)
Jan	18th	2012			Italy Govt Bonds 10 Year Gross Yield 6.419% (via @FGoria)
Jan	12th	2012			Spread and yield fall below crucial levels
Jan	9th	2012			Italy Govt Bonds 10 Year Gross Yield 7.152% (@FGoria)
Dec	29th	2011			Monti pledges market reform and growth in 2012
Dec	29th	2011	#		Monti starts 2nd part of reform agenda:growth package (ger)
Dec	29th	2011			Monti calls for united response to eurozone crisis
Dec	29th	2011			10-year bond yield falls below 7%
Dec	27th	2011			Italy Govt Bonds 2 Year Gross Yield 5.041% - Italy Govt Bonds 5 Year Gross Yield 6.352% - Italy Govt Bonds 10 Year Gross Yield 7.073% (via @FGoria)
Dec	23rd	2011			***Italy Govt Bonds 10 Year Gross Yield 7.015%*** (via @FGoria)
Dec	19th	2011			2YR bond yield <5% for 1st time since Nov 1: 4.98% -31bp; 5YR -29bp 6.06%, 10YR +19bp 6.79%. Yield curve is steepening. (via @lindayueh)
Dec	15th	2011			10yr bond 7,29 % (source Reuters via @FGoria)
Dec	15th	2011			10yr bond 6,77% (ansa.it)
					Spa
Jan	12th	2012			Relief for Italy and Spain in bond auctions
Dec	20th	2011			Spanish bill auction yields: 3 mo bills 1.735% (v 5.11% in Nov) & 6 month bills 2.435% (v 5.227% in Nov) -both big drops in borrowing costs (via @lindayueh)
Dec	15th	2011			10 yr bond 5,4% spread to Italian 160 BP (source: Die Welt)
Dec	15th	2011			Solid demand for Spain's bonds
Dec	15th	2011			Spain appears to be a safer bet for investors than Italy
					Por
Jan	4th	2012			Portugal April Bill Avg. Yield 4.346% Vs. 4.873% on Dec. 7 (via @Schuldensuehner)
Dec	15th	2011			10yr bond mid yield 12,54 % (via @Tradeweb)
					Fra
Jan	16th	2012			French Yields Drop at First Bill Sale Since S&P Downgrade of Nation’s Debt
Jan	3rd	2012			RTRS: French 23-week T-Bill for EUR 2.202bln, bid/cover 2.827 vs. Prev. 4.01 (yield 0.074% vs. Prev. 0.553%) (via @FGoria)
Jan	3rd	2012			RTRS: French 12-week T-Bill for EUR 4.438bln, bid/cover 1.72 vs. Prev. 2.61 (yield 0.023% vs. Prev. 0.005%) (via @FGoria)
					Bel
Dec	20th	2011			Dexia Sells Luxembourg Unit to Qatari Fund
Dec	20th	2011	#		Qatar rulers and Luxemburg buy Dexia daughter (german link)
					Irl
Dec	19th	2011			Ireland Government Bonds 5 Year Note Generic Bid Yield 7,9920 %
Dec	15th	2011			10yr bond mid yield 8,56 % (via @Tradeweb)
					Gre
Jan	10th	2012			Jan  10th Greece sells 1.625B euros (yield 4.90%) and bid to cover ratio at 2.80 (26 weeks T-Bills) (via @EfiEfthimiou )
Dec	15th	2011			Dec 15th 10yr bond mid yield 31,7 % (via @Tradeweb)
					(UK)
Jan	18th	2012			UK gilts hit new record lows today: 10 year bond yield 1.92%, 30 year bond yield 2.93% (via @lindayueh)
Jan	10th	2012			UK GBP700M 2047 IL Gilt Sale Cover 1.92; Real Yield -0.116% (via @djfxtrader)
Dec	23rd	2011			UK Govt Bonds 10 Year Note Generic Bid Yield 2,04 %
Dec	16th	2011			10yr gilt 2,05% (via @lindayueh)
					(Ch)
Jan	10th	2012			Switzerland sells CHF512.75mln of 364-day bills at a negative yield of -0.251%. (via @lindayueh)
Dec	29th	2011			[10y Bond Yields] Switzerland=0.67 (via @LISwires)
Dec	20th	2011			Switzerland sells CHF773.25mln 91-day bills at -0.431% Yields becoming more negative 12/13 -0.399%, 12/6 -0.32%, 11/29 -0.316%, 11/15 -0.3% (via @lindayueh)
					- Institutions -
					IMF
					click here for detailed list (last update Dec 19th 2011)
					EFSF
					click here for detailed list (last update Jan 05th 2012)
					ESM
					click here for detailed list (last update Dec 15th 2011)
					ECB
Jan	9th	2012			Italy banks increased sharply their use of ECB loans to over €200bn last month, accounting for almost a quarter of total liquidity supplied (via @ChrisAdamsMKTS)
Jan	9th	2012			ECB lending to Portugal rises
Jan	4th	2012			Bank deposits with ECB hit record
Jan	3rd	2012	#		Surprising decision: Asmussen not going to be chief economist (ger)
Jan	3rd	2012	#		ECB discusses post of chief economist (ger)
Dec	29th	2011			ECB jumps back in after lukewarm Italian sale
Dec	28th	2011			ECB Balance Sheet Increases to Record 2.73 Trillion Euros
Dec	27th	2011			Nervous banks place record €411bn with ECB as eurozone woes continue
Dec	19th	2011			It depends how much money European banks will get out of the unprecedented ECB 3yr offer. Estimates vary between €450-750 bln. (via @Schuldensuehner)
Dec	19th	2011			Sarko -trade in action:It looks as if banks follow Sarkozy's call for them to use ECB funds to buy sov debt.Span 2yr notes rose for 7th day (via @Schuldensuehner)
					Banks
Jan	8th	2012			EU, US and Japan agree to undergo 'detailed' reviews of Basel III implementation
Jan	5th	2012	#		Spanish banks have to capitalize 50bn € for possible mortgage problems (ger)
Jan	4th	2012			UniCredit Slumps on 43% Rights Offer Discount
Jan	4th	2012			Credit Agricole pumps €2bn euros into Emporiki
Jan	1st	2012			European banks: Hose and dry
Jan	1st	2012	#		5th year of banking crisis: business models tumbling (ger)
					Other
Dec	14th	2011			Bernanke rules out FED helping Eurozone in a meeting with republican senators.
					- Countries -
					The Netherlands.
Dec	11th	2011	*		According to an interview today, Sunday with Dutch finance minister De Jager rules have now to be changed in the way that:
					National parliaments must provide numbers of future budgets to European commission where they will be checked. And if they are over the predefined limit automatic sanctions will be imposed UNLESS some 85% of EZ member votes stop those.
					30 new laws on bank recap and enhanced regulation were announced.
					He didn't elaborate much on the growth part of the "big summit" ...only that he referred to the Eurozone plus package.
Dec	13th	2011	*		Dutch central planning agency: Netherlands in recession now. GDP will shrink 0,5% in 2012. Budget deficit will reach 4,1%, unemployment will rise (link in dutch)
					Germany
Dec	14th	2011	#		Coalition agree upon new bank rescue fund (SoFFin) without forced recap (link german)
					France
Jan	01st	2012			French VAT hike to hit pizzas, quiches - not baguettes
Dec	14th	2011			Markets in expectation of downgrade by Standard & Poors. French politicians issuing statements of "would be not good but also not catastrophic". Market explanation: "lowering expectations"
Dec	15th	2011			Christian Noyer is wrong - what France lacks is credibility
Dec	17th	2011			Fitch revises outlook on France to 'negative'
					Greece
Jan	19th	2012			PM seeks to rally support as troika arrives
Jan	16th	2012			Officials dispatched to US as default fears grow
Jan	16th	2012			46 Days to Avoid Greek Default
Jan	12th	2012			Euro Checkers: Guide to Greek PSI
Jan	4th	2012			Commission demands return of €435m in farm subsidies
Jan	3rd	2012	#		Credit negotiations: Greece threatens to exit eurozone (ger)
Jan	3rd	2012			EU: Greek PSI Must Be Resolved Before 2nd Bailout Program Resolved [Dow Jones] (via @djfxtrader)
Dec	31st	2011			Greeks must avert economic collapse, euro exit: leader
Dec	29th	2011			Prosecutors’ resignation spurs political storm
Dec	29th	2011			Greek bond swap deal may soon be reached: official
Dec	28th	2011			Financial prosecutors resign, claiming interference
Dec	27th	2011			New Democracy drops February election demand
Dec	27th	2011			Retail sales down 30 percent over Christmas
Dec	27th	2011			Papandreou expresses support for interim PM
Dec	27th	2011			‘I'll stay active,’ Papandreou tells critics
Dec	15th	2011			Unemployment at record high, seen rising further
					Ireland
Jan	24th	2012			Noonan presses for cut in cost of bank rescue
Dec	18th	2011			Hayes calls for debt reduction
Dec	16th	2011			Fitch puts Ireland on rating watch negative (eng)
Dec	15th	2011			Deficit target 'ambitious'
					Belgium
Dec	16th	2011			Moody's cuts Belgium ratings by 2 notches
Dec	16th	2011			Fitch puts Belgium on rating watch negative (eng)
Dec	17th	2011	*		Bel. FinMin after downgrade:"We must more then ever stick to our goals" (dutch link)
					Italy
Jan	20th	2012			Govt approves liberalisation package
Jan	10th	2012			Fitch sees significant chance of Italy downgrade
Jan	9th	2012			Italy banks increased sharply their use of ECB loans to over €200bn last month, accounting for almost a quarter of total liquidity supplied (via @ChrisAdamsMKTS)
Dec	31st	2011			Italian president urges sacrifices to save economy
Dec	27th	2011			Italy Retailers in Worst Christmas in 10 Years
Dec	22nd	2011			Factbox: 'Save Italy' package
Dec	17th	2011			Monti Wins Approval for Italian Austerity Plan in Lower House
Dec	16th	2011			Fitch puts Italy on rating watch negative (eng)
					Spain
Jan	4th	2012			***Spain has no plans to seek EU and IMF loans for bank overhaul, according to the Deputy Communication Minister*** (via @FGoria)
Jan	2nd	2012			deficit could surpass 8% (ger)
Dec	31st	2011			Spain sets out plans to cut deficit
Dec	22nd	2011			Spain names ex-Lehman executive as economy minister
Dec	19th	2011			Spain's Incoming President Announces His Plans To Stabilize Spain
Dec	18th	2011			Spain PM to outline tough reforms
Dec	16th	2011			Fitch puts Spain on rating watch negative (eng)
					Austria
Jan	1st	2012			Spindelegger wants stop of new employment in public sector (ger)
					Slovenia
Dec	16th	2011			Fitch puts Slovenia on rating watch negative (eng)
					Cyprus
Dec	16th	2011			Fitch puts Cyprus on rating watch negative  (eng)
					Portugal
Jan	24th	2012			Fears Mount That Portugal Will Need a Second Bailout
Jan	20th	2012			Has Portugal's debt default clock begun to tick?
Jan	19th	2012			Portugal to need "debt haircut" as economy tips into Grecian downward spiral
Jan	9th	2012			ECB lending to Portugal rises
Dec	20th	2011			Portuguese finance minister Gaspar: budget deficit will be about 4% this year. If this is met, would be on course to meet 2012 4.5% target. (via @lindayueh)
					(UK)
Dec	4th	2011			Growth in UK construction accelerates
Dec	17th	2011			Financial services in Britain: The blitz spirit
					* = Dutch, # = German language