New Turmoil in Italy Adds to Europe’s Woes

Photo of Trey Thoelcke
By Trey Thoelcke Published
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

The very modest hope that government actions in Italy might stabilize its economy probably has come to an end. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has announced his resignation, which leaves the national political situation in turmoil. That in turn raises questions about whether a new government will embrace austerity measures Monti put in place in an attempt to balance the nation’s budget. Politicians who believe that Monti has gone too far may take power. Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is among these. So, the uncertainty about the future of Europe gets one more unstable element.

Bloomberg reports:

Italy’s 10-year bond yield jumped 29 basis points to 4.81 percent, the biggest increase since Aug. 2. The cost of insuring Italy’s debt jumped the most in a year, with credit-default swaps on climbing 31 basis points to 284, the highest since Nov. 21.

Watch for these yields to go much higher if the election results favor Berlusconi and his party.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Photo of Trey Thoelcke
About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

Featured Reads

Our top personal finance-related articles today. Your wallet will thank you later.

Continue Reading

Top Gaining Stocks

CBOE Vol: 1,568,143
PSKY Vol: 12,285,993
STX Vol: 7,378,346
ORCL Vol: 26,317,675
DDOG Vol: 6,247,779

Top Losing Stocks

LKQ
LKQ Vol: 4,367,433
CLX Vol: 13,260,523
SYK Vol: 4,519,455
MHK Vol: 1,859,865
AMGN Vol: 3,818,618