The country of Hungary had its debt dropped to junk status today.
Italy’s 6 month bill sale was a disaster, following on the heels of Germany’s failure to sell its bonds. Italy had to pay over 7%, more than double what they have been paying. Their 10 year bond is now at 7.3%, well above the 7% that people were using as the benchmark of when to have serious worries about a country’s debt.
In fact, interest rates on government debt for almost every country is zooming up today (the price of the bonds is falling). Last person out the exit door loses.
I work with an ol’ boy from Hungary, He is a good fellow. He says he isn’t going back there.
Wonder How Albania is doing these days?
Serbia makes some good ammunition. Its always in stock at my favorite gun store.
Parrott
It’s a good thing that part of the world doesn’t have a history of triggering wars.
One of my employees at NASDAQ was from Hungary or Bulgaria (I’m fuzzy on which). At some point, he mentioned that he got his programming skills working as a teenager working for the Russsian military. Another of the employees in another group was from China. Another woman I had a role in hiring was a fairly recent Russian immigrant, obviously happy to be here and willing to work hard (she was willing to program in COBOL). My boss was a transplant from England who showed minimal interest in losing his English identity. Most of the contract programmers were Indians or Eastern Europeans.
No wonder Nasdaq is now owned by Dubai, and the NYSE by Germany (almost).
Mark Simone on Friday made the point that I have made a couple times (he has lived in Manhattan all his adult life) – the Occupy people are protesting outside a place that no longer exists. The 1% who control America are not Americans and they don’t live in America (for the most part)