EUROZONE / PORTUGAL: Finally...Ratings Agencies Come Under The Lash.

                                           BBC
For the longest time, the BIG 3 ratings agencies...Standard/Poor's, Moody's and Fitch...all based in NYC...have been like the proverbial rhino in the living room.
Extremely dangerous if provoked...always needing to be fed...hard to ignore because of loud snorting...and constantly pooping.
They ALL missed...yet profited handsomely...from the recent USA credit/housing and EU banking crisis.


Now...finally...the EC/European Commission is criticizing them...after Moody's downgraded Portugal...to the virtual junk level.
Greek FM Stavros Lambrinidis has described the agencies' actions in the debt crisis as "madness".
German FM Wolfgang Schaeuble says that he wants to "break the oligopoly of the ratings agencies" and limit their influence.

EUROZONE: Clash Of The Titans...Redux! Trichet Vs Schaeuble.

BLOOMBERG/

“We have to insist on the participation of the private sector,” insists German FM Wolfgang Schaeuble (below).
But, the Big 3 credit-rating firms claim his proposal to extend Greek debt maturities by 7 years...would be a default.

Meanwhile, ECB President Trichet (above) said his bank will not roll over its own Greek holdings.

If the ECB resists, EU politicians would have to ask taxpayers to finance a Greek budget shortfall of up to 90 billion euros/$130 billion usd through 2014.

Trichet warns that forcing private-sector involvement amounts to a “credit event” and would be an “enormous mistake.” “Trichet is really digging his heels in now,” said one observer.

FOR ECONOMICS WONKS, SEE ALSO:  Default Jargon...Explained by WSJ's Charles Forelle.
   What the technical jargon used to describe the Greek debt crisis really means... eg. "credit event","selective default", etc.
 "... the nub of jargon is essential to understanding the impasse between the ECB and a German-led bloc that wants Greece's private creditors to bear some of the burden in the fresh rescue of the flagging country that's expected this month."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304778304576375620604066778.html

EUROZONE / GREECE: 5 Year High Rates "Crush" Bonds.

GUARDIAN        

    Germany's FM Wolfgang Schäuble (pictured) believes that "further measures" may be needed to help Greece as the  cost of insuring Greek debt has hit a record high.
    Schäuble told a German newspaper that investors holding Greek bonds could face losses after 2013 when the current Greek rescue package expires.
    Greek FM George Papaconstantinou has admitted that Athens might need "more time" to persuade financial markets that its recovery plan is credible.
    Meanwhile, many analysts speculate that Greece will be forced to restructure debt .