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« Reply #30 on: January 08, 2012, 08:32:51 pm »

Italy plans gradual liberalisation to boost economy
8 January 2012, Catherine Hornby - Rome (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/08/us-italy-liberalisation-idUSTRE8070QE20120108

Excerpt:

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti plans liberalisation steps to promote competition in several industry sectors and revive the ailing economy, he said on Sunday, ahead of meetings with European partners to discuss ways to stem the debt crisis.

The liberalizations, which will seek to reduce privileges for dominant companies, will be included in a new set of growth-enhancing reforms due to follow the €33 billion austerity plan passed last month.
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« Reply #31 on: January 09, 2012, 10:41:21 pm »

ECB Resumes Buying Bonds With Gusto As Italian Yields Remain Well Wide Of 7%
9 January 2012, by Tyler Durden (Zero Hedge)
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/ecb-resumes-buying-bonds-gusto-italian-yields-remain-well-wide-7

Italian Bonds Surge To Early November Wides
9 January 2012, by Tyler Durden (Zero Hedge)
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/italian-bonds-surge-early-november-wides

Italian Banks Plunge On Capital Raise Concerns
9 January 2012, by Tyler Durden (Zero Hedge)
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/italian-banks-plunge-capital-raise-concerns
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« Reply #32 on: January 11, 2012, 08:45:54 pm »

Monti warns of anti-EU unrest in Italy

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/220488.html

1/11/12

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has warned that his austerity measures might trigger anti-European protests in his country, pleading for more help from the EU to stem its debt crisis.
 

“I am demanding heavy sacrifices from Italians,” Monti said in an interview with German newspaper Die Welt published on Wednesday.
 
“I can only do this if concrete advantages become visible.” If not, “a protest against Europe will develop in Italy, including against Germany, which is seen as the ringleader of EU intolerance, and against the European Central Bank,” Monti added.
 
Monti, who has pushed through a crushing austerity plan demanded by the European Union, is in Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on stemming the debt crisis. The two leaders are due to hold a news conference later today.
 
"Unfortunately, we have to say that our reform policies have not received the recognition and appreciation in Europe that they deserve," the premier added.

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« Reply #33 on: January 18, 2012, 08:51:26 am »

Bank of Italy forecasts sharper recession in 2012
17 January 2012, (AFP)
http://www.france24.com/en/20120117-bank-italy-forecasts-sharper-recession-2012-0

The Bank of Italy forecast Tuesday an economic contraction of between 1.2% and 1.5% this year depending on borrowing costs, a much sharper decline than the government's estimate of 0.4%.

"The uncertainty that surrounds the medium-term perspectives of the Italian economy ... are extraordinarily high and are directly linked to the evolution of the eurozone debt crisis," the central bank said in its economic bulletin.

The bank advanced two scenarios, each based on interest Italy must offer to borrow on sovereign bond markets.

The first scenario was calculated with a rate of about 7.0% currently demanded by investors for 10-year Italian debt and widely considered to be unsustainable.

Under these circumstances, the bank said, the Italian economy would contract by 1.5% in 2012 and would remain stalled in 2013.
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« Reply #34 on: January 22, 2012, 08:48:19 am »

Italy wants EU bailout fund doubled - German magazine
21 January 2012, Berlin (Reuters)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/01/21/uk-eurozone-italy-idUKTRE80K0OJ20120121

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti wants the lending capacity of the euro zone's permanent rescue fund to be doubled to €1 trillion ($1.29 trillion), German magazine Der Spiegel wrote on Saturday, without citing sources.

"Monti argues that such a measure would create confidence in the currency union," Spiegel wrote.

"He has informed the German government of his wishes."

Spiegel said Monti's fellow countryman and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi agreed the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) should beef up its effective lending capacity beyond the €500 billion planned.

He believes the leftover funds from the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), the temporary €440 billion fund lending to Ireland and Portugal, should be put at the ESM's disposal in addition to the €500 billion, Spiegel wrote.

The draft treaty establishing the ESM will be discussed by euro zone finance ministers on Monday and is likely to be approved by EU leaders at a summit on January 30, euro zone officials said last week.
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« Reply #35 on: February 10, 2012, 04:40:58 pm »

S&P Downgrades 34 Of 37 Italian Banks - Full Statement
10 February 2012, Tyler Durden (Zero Hedge)
www.zerohedge.com/news/sp-downgrades-34-37-italian-banks-full-statement

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« Reply #36 on: February 22, 2012, 03:38:17 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/euro-crisis-cash-strapped-italy-sells-off-iconic-170445200.html

2/22/12

The Italian island of Sardinia is leasing several formerly state-owned, out-of-use lighthouses to private developers who plan to capitalize on their pristine coastal surroundings.

They command stunning coastal views of one of the Mediterranean’s least spoiled islands, but now, as Italy’s new government attempts to chip away at the country’s €1.9 trillion ($2.5 trillion) debt, a clutch of abandoned but picturesque lighthouses on the island of Sardinia will be sold off.

The sale is part of the Italian government's efforts to balance the books by capitalizing on a valuable portfolio of state-owned property, from disused Army barracks to castles, former convents, and even islands. The lighthouses, which overlook the powder-white beaches and turquoise bays that have made Sardinia such a tourist magnet, are to be leased to private businesses and converted into unusual hotels, galleries, and museums.

They are being offered for sale by the island’s autonomous government. Squeezed by the drastic cuts announced by Prime Minister Mario Monti, the sober technocrat appointed in November, the island's government can no longer afford the cost of maintaining the lighthouses, much less restoring them.

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« Reply #37 on: March 07, 2012, 01:39:07 pm »

Yields on Italian, Spanish debt rise
6 March 2012, by Deborah Levine - New York (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/yields-on-italian-spanish-debt-rise-2012-03-06

Spain and Italy's cost of borrowing rose on Tuesday after a report said a Greek default would likely force Italy and Spain to seek aid.

However, the move took yields back to levels about a week ago, at worst - just before the European Central Bank's latest mammoth lending operation.

Spain's 10-year yields rose as high as 5.05% from 4.95% on Monday.

They topped 5.60% at the beginning of the year.

Italy's 10-year yields increased 10 basis points, or 0.1%, to 4.97%, though still near their lowest levels since last fall.

Italy's 2-year yields increased 3 basis points to 1.80% and Spain's were up 5 basis points to 2.31% -- both still down significantly from a week ago.
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« Reply #38 on: April 06, 2012, 06:58:12 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/italy-politics-tumult-northern-league-head-berlusconi-ally-120013369.html

4/6/12

Italy politics in tumult after Northern League head, Berlusconi ally quits in finance scandal

ROME - The once-charismatic head of the Northern League, the anti-immigrant party that for two decades was Silvio Berlusconi's critical ally, has called for his party to do the right thing amid a finance scandal that forced his resignation.

A chastened Umberto Bossi said Friday the League was in a "dangerous" situation, under the spotlight by Rome prosecutors investigating alleged party payments to his family members and under criticism by deceived party faithful.

Bossi was meeting Friday with Roberto Maroni, Berlusconi's onetime interior minister and one of three League officials who have been tapped to guide the party following Bossi's abrupt resignation Thursday.

Bossi blamed "thieving" Rome prosecutors for stirring the scandal, but acknowledged the need for clarity.
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« Reply #39 on: April 11, 2012, 05:39:30 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-fat-cat-italian-politicians-dodge-montis-austerity-144638131.html

Analysis: Fat cat Italian politicians dodge Monti's austerity

4/11/12

ROME (Reuters) - When Prime Minister Mario Monti called on all Italians to make sacrifices to avert a Greek-style crisis, the political class that backs him in parliament wasn't listening.
 
While most voters face higher taxes, stagnating wages and rising unemployment, Italy's army of politicians and senior officials are clinging to fat salaries that far outstrip those of their peers abroad.
 
Monti, a technocrat who relies on party politicians to get his austerity policies through parliament, recently issued a decree which will prevent public servants earning more than U.S. President Barack Obama. Many now earn considerably more.
 
Ordinary Italians are paying the price for a decade of political stalemate, profligate spending and corruption.

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« Reply #40 on: April 18, 2012, 01:35:21 pm »

Italy to delay balanced budget by a year: report
18 April 2012, by William L. Watts - Frankfurt (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/italy-to-delay-balanced-budget-by-a-year-report-2012-04-18

The Italian government will delay its plan to reach a balanced budget in 2013 by a year due to a weaker economic outlook, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing a draft document expected to be approved by Prime Minister Mario Monti's cabinet later in the day.

The plan raises Italy's 2012 deficit target to 1.7% of GDP from 1.6%, the report said, while the 2013 goal is raised to 0.5% from 0.1%.

The plan calls for a nearly balanced budget, with a deficit of 0.1% of GDP, in 2014.

Italy has one of the smallest deficits in the euro zone but is struggling to convince investors it can rein in the size of its overall debt pile, which at around 120% of GDP is second only to Greece in the euro zone.
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« Reply #41 on: April 21, 2012, 07:54:42 pm »

French Bonds Drop Before Election as Italian Debt Slides
21 April 2012, by Anchalee Worrachate (Bloomberg)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-21/french-bonds-drop-before-election-as-italian-debt-slides.html

French bonds declined, sending 10- year yields to the highest in almost three months, as investors braced for tomorrow’s election amid concern that European policy makers are failing to contain the region’s debt crisis.

Italian 10-year bond yields rose for a sixth week, the longest run since November, as Prime Minister Mario Monti pushed back his balanced-budget goal.

France will hold the first of two rounds of votes to choose a president, with Socialist Francois Hollande seeking to replace Nicolas Sarkozy.

The rise in France’s yields reflects investor concern that Hollande may relax the nation’s deficit-tackling policy if he takes office, according to Charles Diebel, head of market strategy at Lloyds Banking Group Plc.

“The French election is going to keep people nervous, particularly with comments Hollande is making,” London-based Diebel said.

“With a number of risk events ahead of us, the market is going to re-challenge policy makers.”

French 10-year yields advanced 13 basis points, or 0.13 percentage point, from last week to 3.08% at 4:06 p.m. London time yesterday.

That’s the biggest increase since the five days ended Jan. 6.

The extra yield investors get for holding the securities instead of German bunds rose to as much as 149 basis points, the most since January.

The price of the 3% securities due in April 2022 fell to 99.33 from 100.43.

Italian 10-year bond yields rose 13 basis points to 5.65%.

The rate on benchmark 10-year German bunds slipped two basis points to 1.72%.

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« Reply #42 on: April 24, 2012, 08:56:52 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/italy-borrowing-costs-rise-eurozone-woes-grow-111157843--finance.html

Italy borrowing costs rise as eurozone woes grow

4/24/12

ROME (AP) — Italy has seen its borrowing costs rise as it raised some €2.5 billion ($3.3 billion) in bonds in a market jittery over the French elections and political instability in the Netherlands.

Italy had to pay an interest rate of 3.3 percent in the auction of two-year bonds on Tuesday, up from 2.3 percent at the last such auction, but below the 4.8 percent paid as recently as January.

Analysts had expected borrowing costs would reflect political developments in the wider eurozone as well as Italy's decision to delay its target for a balanced budget from 2013 to 2015.
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« Reply #43 on: April 25, 2012, 05:17:06 pm »

Rising Italy-to-Spain Yields Keep Banks on Life Support
25 April 2012, by Liam Vaughan and Gavin Finch (Bloomberg)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-24/rising-italy-to-spain-yields-keep-banks-on-life-support.html

Excerpt:

European lenders, more reliant than ever on emergency aid after borrowing $1.3 trillion from their central bank, may need additional cash infusions until policy makers stem the crisis engulfing Spain and Italy.

After more than 30 bond sales in the first quarter, no bank has sold unsecured debt this month, and the cost of insuring against default has soared to levels last seen in January.

Financial stocks, which rallied 20% following the European Central Bank’s December decision to provide unlimited three-year loans, are now 2% lower since then.

Investors are balking after some lenders used the ECB cash to boost holdings of sovereign debt and governments struggled to rein in deficits.

Because banks post collateral in exchange for the ECB loans, the amount unsecured bondholders would get back in a default has shrunk.

That has raised funding costs for what Morgan Stanley estimates is about €700 billion ($924 billion) of debt lenders must refinance by the end of 2013.

“There is a very compelling case for further intervention from the ECB,” said Barbara Ridpath, chief executive officer of the International Centre for Financial Regulation, a London- based research group funded by banks and the U.K. government.

“Many of these banks simply cannot refinance their maturing debt in the bond market.”
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« Reply #44 on: April 26, 2012, 09:16:13 pm »

Italian Business Confidence Drops to Lowest in Two Years
26 April 2012, by Lorenzo Totaro and Chiara Vasarri (Bloomberg)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-26/italian-business-confidence-drops-to-lowest-in-xx-months.html

Excerpt:

Italian business confidence unexpectedly fell to the lowest level in more than two years in April amid concerns that the country’s fourth recession in a decade may deepen.

The manufacturing-sentiment index dropped to 89.5 from a revised 91.1 in March, Rome-based national statistics institute Istat said today. Economists had predicted a reading of 92.1, according to the median of 11 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey.

“It is premature to say whether today’s decline in business sentiment might be a temporary blip or a signal of a more protracted phase of very weak economic activity,” Unicredit economists Chiara Corsa and Loredana Federico wrote in a note today.

“Still, taken at face value the April figure is consistent with a GDP contraction at the beginning of the second quarter.”

Prime Minister Mario Monti’s Cabinet, which is implementing a €20 billion ($26.4 billion) austerity plan to eliminate the deficit, lowered its forecasts for the euro-region’s third- biggest economy on April 18, saying it will contract 1.2% this year.

The Treasury also forecast that unemployment, at an 11-year high of 9.3%, won’t start declining until 2013
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« Reply #45 on: May 02, 2012, 07:42:49 pm »

Italy Unemployment Rises to 12-Year High as Slump Worsens
2 May 2012, by Lorenzo Totaro (Bloomberg)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-02/italy-unemployment-rises-to-x-year-high-as-slump-worsens.html

Italy’s unemployment rate rose more than economists forecast in March to the highest since 2000 as companies failed to hire amid signs of a deepening recession in the euro region’s third-largest economy.

Joblessness increased to a seasonally-adjusted 9.8% from a revised 9.6% in February, Rome-based national statistics office Istat said in a preliminary report today.

The reading, the highest since the third quarter of 2000, compared with a 9.4% median estimate by nine economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

After slipping into its fourth recession since 2001 in the final three months of last year, the Italian economy probably shrank again in the first quarter as rising joblessness undermined domestic demand, employers’ lobby Confindustria said on April 18.

Prime Minister Mario Monti’s Cabinet last month forecast the economy will contract 1.2% this year.

The Rome-based Treasury also predicted that unemployment won’t start declining until 2013.

“Unemployment will keep soaring sharply as the conditions that caused it will remain,” Confindustria said last month.

“There will be more job cuts and an increase in people looking for employment amid a decline in real income.”

The Italian parliament will debate this month an overhaul of the labor code that the government says will spur employment.

The plan gives employers more leeway to fire staff and creates a new system of unemployment benefits.

The initiative is Monti’s fourth major legislative effort to revamp the economy after measures in December aimed at reducing Italy’s deficit and two packages earlier this year to make the country more competitive and to simplify bureaucracy.

Istat originally reported a jobless rate of 9.3% in February.
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« Reply #46 on: May 09, 2012, 12:32:14 am »

European Spreadwatch Alert As Italian Bank Borrowings From ECB Rise To New Record
8 May 2012, by Tyler Durden (Zero Hedge)
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/european-spreadwatch-alert-italian-bank-borrowings-ecb-rise-new-record

Excerpt:

It may not be a big rise, but the €1 billion increase in Italian bank borrowings from the ECB, from €270 billion to €271 billion in Apirl as just reported by the Bank of Italy, is still a record, and not one Italy should be proud of.

The Spanish bank update is pending and will be out in a few days, although if the recent about face by Rajoy, admitting the Spanish banks are about to be nationalized, which today is no longer sending the markets higher, is an indication, it won't be a vast improvement.

Sure enough, the fact that the market's attention is once again drawn to an indicator of the PIIGS financial sector insolvency is not good for sovereign spreads and at last check everyone was wider, core and periphery together, as

Spain was+5.3 bps,

Italy +3.8 bps,

Netherlands +0.3 bps, and

France 1.8 bps.

Even the futures are shocking not green on more bad news.
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« Reply #47 on: May 10, 2012, 10:31:24 pm »

Italian Economic Deterioration Accelerates: Q2 GDP Forecast To Drop More Than 1%
10 May 2012, by Tyler Durden (Zero Hedge)
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/italian-economic-deterioration-accelerates-q2-gdp-forecast-drop-more-1

Overnight we got some good news on Italian industrial production.

Well, get ready to scrap them as according to Italian Trade Union Confindustria, and validating the collapse as predicted by PMI indicators,

Italy's Q2 GDP is now expected to shrink more than 1% in Q2: the worst print since 2009, cementing the country's "double dip", and that real-time industrial output in April, now that LTRO has fizzled, is expected to fall 0.6%.

None of this should come as a surprise to anyone: after all the only way the periphery can rise is if it crashes hard enough to force the ECB to intervene again.

Finally, the country that is next in line after Spain to nationalize its banks, need some pretext after all.

Complete economic collapse will surely make stockholders, of other countries' banks at least, happy, as their Italian counterparty risk will soon be footed by the Italian taxpayers themselves.

This is what Italian GDP has been recently. A -1.0%+ print will not make anyone happy
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« Reply #48 on: May 12, 2012, 07:57:21 pm »

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/

Tax Collection Violence in Italy: Mail Bombs in Rome, Police Clashes in Naples, Molotov Cocktails in Livorno


Violent protests against the hated Equitalia, the Italian tax collection agency, are making headlines in several cities in the past few days. In Rome mail bombings have been ongoing since December. Via Google Translate, this time in Italian, please consider a trio of articles.

Equitalia, six months of mail bombs
 MILAN - Equitalia once again in the crosshairs. After the envelope with gunpowder delivered Friday to the see of Rome, in Via Giuseppe Grezar, last night, two Molotov cocktails were thrown against the door of the agency's headquarters in Livorno. This is the latest in a long series of parcel bombs and suspicious envelopes arrived in recent months in various offices of the Italian society of recovery.

THE FIRST PACKS-BOMB - The first package bomb delivered to Equitalia comes in via Millevoi, in Rome, December 9 last year. The bomb explodes in the hands of the director general, Mark Cockaigne, that is wounded in the hand and eye. On 12 December a large firecracker exploded outside the headquarters of the agency Equitalia in Naples. The explosion causes damage of the lower part of the gate valve iron input current Southern.

On 15 December an envelope, containing gunpowder and a primer, is caught in the seat of Equitalia Flaminio in Rome on the Tiber. On 20 December an envelope containing white powder with no sender is delivered to the site via Equitalia Millevoi. On 22 December, two envelopes containing suspicious powder is delivered to the Stock Exchange in the square in Milan and the Business of Equitalia in Via San Gregorio. On 4 January an anonymous caller warns of a bomb the headquarters of Perugia Equitalia. After the appropriate checks reveals a false alarm.

January 5 at Leghorn a threatening letter and a 7.65 caliber bullet is sent to the Director of the office of Equitalia of Livorno. The same day at Caserta a parcel containing gunpowder and intended to Equitalia of Caserta is intercepted by the Post Office, insospettitesi the lack of sender. Inside is also found a threatening letter. On January 9, an envelope containing suspicious powder and addressed to Equitalia is intercepted in the post office of Ischia and a second envelope with gunpowder and a piece of rope as a wick reaches the site of the Tiber Equitalia Flaminio in Rome.
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« Reply #49 on: May 14, 2012, 10:30:12 pm »

Moody's cuts ratings on 26 Italian banks
14 May 2012, by Drew FitzGerald (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/moodys-cuts-ratings-on-26-italian-banks-2012-05-14

Moody's Investors Service on Monday downgraded 26 Italian banks to reflect the reduced level of support they might receive from the national government should they run into trouble.

Moody's cut 10 banks by one notch and lowered another eight by two notches.

Six banks received three-notch downgrades and two were cut by four notches.

Five of the banks downgraded Monday are part of larger financial groups.

Moody's has warned in recent months it could lower its credit ratings on number of European financial institutions due to ongoing fiscal woes in their home countries.

The changes often reflect the countries' decreased ability to bail out potentially troubled banks more than any change in the individual institutions' credit metrics.
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« Reply #50 on: May 15, 2012, 05:24:56 pm »

Downgrade increases Italian banks' woes



15 May 2012 by Euronews

Italian banks have suffered another blow with a mass downgrade by rating agency Moody's.

They were already struggling with shrinking demand and soaring bad loans in austerity-hit Italy.

The 26 large and medium-sized Italian banks that have had their ratings cut will find it more difficult to borrow money.

The downgrades came as new figures show Italy's economy slid further into recession in the first three months of this year.

The Italian economy contracted by a larger-than-expected 0.8% quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of 2012.

Moody's action makes the ratings of Italian banks among the lowest of comparable European countries, with Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena just above "junk" or non-investment grade status.

The move adds to funding difficulties stemming from the eurozone sovereign debt crisis and is expected to make it more costly for already hard-pressed Italian banks to finance their needs, increasing their reliance on European Central Bank funds.

*Sharp reaction*

The European Central Bank should disregard Moody's decision to downgrade 26 Italian banks in its own relations with local lenders, the head of the Italian banking association ABI said.

"We forcefully ask that the ECB and European institutions disregard these judgements, otherwise it will create a short circuit we will never be able to get out of," ABI head Giuseppe Mussari told a conference in southern Italy

The move was criticised as part of a "never-ending attack" on Italy by the head of Italian employers lobby Confindustria.

"These judgements should be made with more care, the situation is delicate and there is a never-ending attack that worries us," Confindustria president Emma Marcegaglia said.
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« Reply #51 on: May 18, 2012, 06:05:36 pm »

Italian authorities increase security at 14,000 sites, assign body guards

Italy increased security Thursday at 14,000 sites, and assigned bodyguards to protect 550 individuals after a nuclear energy company official was shot and letter bombs directed to the tax collection agency.

Under the enhanced measures, Interior Minister Anna Maria Cancellieri deployed 20,000 law enforcement officers to protect individuals and sensitive sites. In addition, 4,200 military personnel already assigned throughout Italy will be redeployed according to new priorities.

“Based on a thorough analysis of the situation, Interior Cancellieri has confirmed the need to maintain a high level of vigilance, strengthen the security measures against sensitive targets and those exposed to specific risks,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

http://thedailyattack.com/2012/05/17/italy-authorities-increase-security-at-14000-sites-assigned-body-guards/
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« Reply #52 on: May 26, 2012, 07:59:59 pm »

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/spain-region-greek-exit-warnings-114218247.html?l=1

Spain region, Greek exit warnings rattle euro zone

5/26/12

(Reuters) - Central banks and companies risk making a grave error if they do not brace for a possible Greek exit from the euro zone, Belgium's foreign minister said on Friday, rattling markets already alarmed by Spain's deteriorating finances.

Greek elections are scheduled for June 17 and could hasten the country's departure from the currency club should a government intent on ripping up the country's bailout program result.

Contrasting findings of opinion polls on Friday showed the outcome is too tight to call.

Greece accounts for little more than 2 percent of the euro zone economy but could pose a profound contagion threat if it quit the currency area, throwing the spotlight on Portugal, Spain and even Italy.

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« Reply #53 on: May 30, 2012, 08:10:30 am »

Italian yields rise in 5- and 10-year auctions
30 May 2012, by Sara Sjolin - London (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/italian-yields-rise-in-5-and-10-year-auctions-2012-05-30

The Italian government on Wednesday sold a total of €5.732 billion of medium and long term Treasury bonds, at higher borrowing costs than at previous auctions with same maturities, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

The Italian Treasury sold €3.391 billion in 5-year bonds, just below its target range, at a yield of 5.66%.

The government also sold €2.341 billion in 10-year bonds at a yield of 6.03%, higher than the 5.84% produced at the previous auction with same maturity.

For the 10-year bond, the government had aimed at selling between €2 billion and €2.75 billion, according to DJ. In the secondary market,

yields on 10-year Italian government bonds surged 21.6 basis points to 6.111%, according to electronic trading platform Tradeweb.
 
 
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« Reply #54 on: May 30, 2012, 04:34:14 pm »

Italy earthquakes will hit economy hard: business lobby

5/30/12

ROME (Reuters) - The strong earthquakes that hit the northern Italian region of Emilia Romagna in the past days will have prolonged economic effects that will worsen an already difficult situation, Italy's main business association said on Wednesday.
 
"The earthquakes in May, which had very serious effects on people's lives, will also have prolonged consequences for some of the most important industrial regions in Italy and for an area with strong manufacturing activity," business lobby Confindustria said in an economic report.
 
"This can only worsen an already very difficult situation," it said.
 
Emilia Romagna, one of Italy' richest and most productive regions, was hit by a deadly magnitude 5.8 earthquake and a series of aftershocks on Tuesday, just over a week after a force 6.0 tremor in the same region.
 
More than 20 people were killed in the two earthquakes which caused a swathe of destruction across the region.
 
(Reporting by James Mackenzie)

http://news.yahoo.com/italy-earthquakes-hit-economy-hard-business-lobby-091445830--business.html;_ylt=AoGZqERR3rZSQmF3uxtxWmSw73QA;_ylu=X3oDMTRvbWI0dDNmBGNjb2RlA2dtcHRvcDEwMDBwb29sd2lraXVwcmVzdARtaXQDTmV3cyBmb3IgeW91BHBrZwNiNWRhOWY3Ni0yNGY1LTNjNjMtYTQ3Zi0xZmI3Y2M4MTY1ZmUEcG9zAzgEc2VjA25ld3NfZm9yX3lvdQR2ZXIDMThjOGY4NjAtYWEzOC0xMWUxLThmN2YtMjIzMzJjYjNkZThm;_ylg=X3oDMTN1aGdwczk3BGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDNzI2OGNlMjgtODI2Yi0zNjBlLTgzMzctYjUxNDdkNjJkMDYyBHBzdGNhdANidXNpbmVzc3xidXNpbmVzcyUyRlRvZGF5JTI1MjdzJTI1MjBNYXJrZXRzBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--;_ylv=3
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« Reply #55 on: June 01, 2012, 09:11:49 pm »

Italy, Spain default insurance costs hit record
1 June 2012. by William L. Watts - Frankfurt (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/italy-spain-default-insurance-costs-hit-record-2012-06-01

The cost of insuring Spanish and Italian government debt against default via instruments known as credit default swaps, or CDS, hit new records on Friday, according to data provider Markit.

The spread on five-year Spanish CDS widened to 610 basis points from 596 basis points on Thursday.

That means it would now cost $610,000 annually to insure $10 million of Spanish debt against default for five years, up $14,000 from the previous day.

The spread on Italian CDS widened by 22 basis points to 579.

Core euro-zone countries also saw a rise, with the French CDS spread widening by 8 basis points to 225 and Germany widening by 4 basis points to 106, Markit said.
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« Reply #56 on: June 02, 2012, 11:07:38 am »

Italian Jobless Rate Rose to 10.2% in April Amid Slump
1 June 2012, by Lorenzo Totaro (Bloomberg)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-01/italian-jobless-rate-rose-to-10-2-in-april-amid-slump.html

Excerpt:

Italy’s joblessness rose more than economists forecast in April to the highest in 12 years amid a deepening slump in Europe’s fourth-biggest economy.

The unemployment rate increased to a seasonally-adjusted 10.2%, the highest since the first quarter of 2000, from a revised 10.1% in March, Rome-based national statistics office Istat said in a preliminary report today.

Economists forecast an increase to 9.9%, the median of 10 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey showed.

The jobless rate rose to 9.8% in the first quarter from 9.1% in the previous three months, Istat said.

The economy, in its fourth recession since 2001, will contract 1.5% this year before expanding 0.5% in 2013, Istat forecast in its annual report May 22.

Industrial output probably declined 0.6% last month as two earthquakes in the north weigh on Italy’s outlook with “lasting” consequences on production, Rome-based employers lobby Confindustria said in a May 30 note.

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« Reply #57 on: June 02, 2012, 11:10:34 am »

ECB Must Print Euros or Italy May Say ‘Ciao:’ Berlusconi
1 June 2012, by Lorenzo Totaro and Jeffrey Donovan (Bloomberg)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-01/berlusconi-says-ecb-must-print-euros-or-italy-may-say-ciao-1-.html

Excerpt:

Former Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Italy should say “ciao, euro” if the European Central Bank doesn’t start printing money to tackle the debt crisis and Germany should quit the single currency if it won’t back a bolder role for ECB.

“The economic crisis can’t be solved” in Italy, Berlusconi said in comments posted on his party’s website today. He called on Prime Minister Mario Monti to “change his political line” and lobby European leaders to back a money- printing campaign by the Frankfurt-based ECB.

If the central bank doesn’t become a “lender of last resort,” Italy should say “ciao, euro,” the former premier said.

The media tycoon-turned-politician became the latest European leaders to step up pressure on German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the ECB to permit a more aggressive response to the region’s debt crisis.

Monti yesterday called on Merkel to drop her opposition to allowing the euro region’s rescue mechanism to lend directly to banks.

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« Reply #58 on: June 02, 2012, 07:19:48 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/berlusconi-says-idea-italy-dump-euro-joke-143540480--business.html;_ylt=Ak7tyfxxlIqaUP5N1cD8u7Ww73QA;_ylu=X3oDMTRvaWFia2ExBGNjb2RlA2dtcHRvcDEwMDBwb29sd2lraXVwcmVzdARtaXQDTmV3cyBmb3IgeW91BHBrZwNhNjY1ZGFlNS1jZTY3LTM0YTUtOTI3Zi1lN2Q4Yjg5MTE2NjkEcG9zAzIEc2VjA25ld3NfZm9yX3lvdQR2ZXIDYjVmNWFhZTAtYWNjMC0xMWUxLWFmZmYtMjViZTA2ZTEwOGI3;_ylg=X3oDMTJyaG5rN3ZlBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDN2RlMjFmZjgtZGNmMy0zNzhhLWIxNjItYjU0NTQzMzZlMDgyBHBzdGNhdANidXNpbmVzcwRwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2U-;_ylv=3

Berlusconi says idea Italy should dump euro was "joke"
By Steve Scherer | Reuters – 9 hrs ago.

ROME (Reuters) - Former Premier Silvio Berlusconi said on Saturday he was only joking when he suggested that Italy should dump the euro unless the European Central Bank agreed to inject more cash into the economy.
 
"We have to go to Europe and say forcefully that the ECB should start printing money. If it doesn't, we should have the strength to say 'ciao, ciao' and leave the euro," Berlusconi said on Friday in an entry on his Facebook page.
 
Less than 24 hours later, the former leader reversed his position, which clashed with that of Prime Minister Mario Monti and threatened to undermine the government almost a year ahead of the next national vote.
 
"That a joke ... could be mistaken for a proposal is certainly a serious mistake for whoever claims to provide political news," Berlusconi wrote on Saturday on his Facebook page.
 
He said the press had taken seriously what he had said "with a smile and irony".
 
Berlusconi's People of Liberty (PDL) party is one of the two main blocs supporting Monti's government of technocrats, which was brought to power in November precisely to prevent Italy from defaulting on its debt and destroying the single currency.
 
The Italian media underscored on Saturday that it would be impossible for the PDL to continue supporting Monti if it openly campaigned against the euro.
 
The 75-year-old Berlusconi, having given up leadership of the party amid an ongoing trial on charges of paying for sex with an underage prostitute, appears to be hankering for a comeback as next year's elections approach.
 
The PDL, blamed for failing to reform the economy, took a drubbing in local elections last month, when Italians embraced the Five-Star Movement, an anti-euro protest bloc led by comedian Beppe Grillo.
 
Berlusconi has a long track record of saying provocative things and backtracking later.
 
Less than a month after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings in September 2008, then-Prime Minister Berlusconi said world leaders were considering closing international markets to "rewrite the rules of international finance".
 
With an hour, he denied the comments, which had sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling more than 8 percent, saying no leader was thinking of shutting the markets and that it was a rumour he had "heard on the radio".
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« Reply #59 on: June 10, 2012, 01:12:16 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/could-italy-next-fears-spain-bank-rescue-134350996.html

Could Italy be next? Fears after Spain bank rescue

6/10/12

Even as the global economic community hailed an agreement to rescue Spain's stricken banks, there was concern in Rome on Sunday that investors could now begin treating Italy as the next weak link in the eurozone.
 
Those fears have been fueled by a report from Moody's ratings agency warning that Spain's banking troubles could be "a major source of contagion" for Italy where lenders are also highly reliant on European Central Bank funding.
 
"Italy is now the only country in difficulty that has not had to ask for a bailout," said Federico Fubini, a columnist for the top-selling Corriere della Sera daily, after aid packages for Greece, Ireland, Portugal and now Spain.
 
Without a stabilisation in borrowing costs on the debt markets for Italy and Spain and a Europe-wide agreement on the banking system, Fubini said that "the uncertainty will be very high and scrutiny of Italy will grow ever higher."
 
Italy's borrowing costs are lower than Spain's -- indicating greater investor confidence -- but they have been moving in line with Spanish ones.

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