Maybe it’s time we started doing a serious bit of wading into the bond markets again? We’re the poster boys or so we’re told. 3 months ago Italy was going to go bust and now they’re selling bonds at very attractive rates…only good thing is that it would seem that Moodys, Standard And Poors etc are starting to get the cold shoulder.

Who bought the bonds and was it with ECB money? Rhetorical question, we won’t know the answer until next month. If is the ECB financing it by buying bank bonds so that the banks can buy sovereign paper then we will know that eurozone quantitive easing is underway

What a civilized debate……………..notice the absentees……the discussion is way over their heads!

Don’t think this has anything to do with Greece at all. Markets have priced in default a long time ago. Also it’s one thing deciding to introduce austerity measures quite another implementing them. The haircut on the Greek debt is nowhere near enough so the game is up there I think. What’s happening in bond markets is ECB is flooding the banks with money at 1% the banks are then punting it on to sovereigns for say 4% thus making a killing. This of course causes yields to drop. Will it work in restoring growth and thus creditworthiness of eur ozone countries? Doubtful I think ratings agencies are looking at overall indebtedness of countries and lack of growth due to austerity when giving their negative outlook. I think they are correct to base their credit ratings on more than current bond yields

Can anyone tell me how the euro hasnt lost value? I thought printing money would do this and this is what the ECB has been doing for the last year.

It’s quite amazing actually, quite surreal, the QE approach is being pursued by the US, UK and EU. We are witnessing a massive devaluation of the Western Worlds economic strength, whilst at the same time the currencies valuations are being upheld. A sign that neither the Chinese nor the BRIC are ready or willing to adopt the position of toppling the US as the worlds largest economic region. Not yet, anyway.

Does anyone else suspect this is because Greece has voted on harsh austerity measures ? Markets lulling us into a false sense of security that all is on the up then……when it suits….up go the costs of borrowing again. They are gamblers after all.

Do they disclose who buys these bonds? Mario Monti and Mario Draghi have Goldman Sachs connections, it makes me deeply suspicious.