Today's Top Stories
Keys for today: NYT says China yuan reval to come within next few days; Greek CDS @ all-time wides; ECB mtng due out this morning (focus on new lending rules); retailer sales hit all morning; LCC/UAUA in merger talks per NYT/WSJ; Kohn/Bernanke speak after bell
European shares were hit as Greek CDS spreads blow out to all-time wides (traded out 32bps to a record 445.5 overnight per CMA DataVision) despite positive comments from Greek officials (i.e. Greek central bank official said that bank deposit outflows have stopped, finance minister said Greece is continuing to borrow normally and is executing its fiscal consolidation plan on schedule, etc.). Also weighing on European shares were cautious comments from the Bank for Int'l Settlements (BIS) which said the UK needs "drastic" austerity measures to prevent public debt from exploding out of control and that the Sovereign debt crisis is at a "boiling point."