European Central Bank

European Central Bank Articles

ThinkstockThe U.S. Federal Reserve may have slashed the Fed funds rate as low as humanly possible. After all, how can you beat zero percent (actually targeted 0.00% to 0.25%)? The answer is with...
ThinkstockWhich way the future of Greece goes is still up in the air. If you read enough of the financial and political news coming out of and about the European Union and the nations making up the...
thinkstockStandard & Poor’s has decided that the corporate credit ratings for the National Bank of Greece S.A. (NYSE: NBG) are affirmed at “CCC/C.” What remains a caution is that the...
ThinkstockGreece may have made some economic progress, but it has not made enough for its major financial supporters to claim it is worthy of more bailout money. That is the conclusion of a statement...
The European Central Bank announced that it would keep its keep rates low, in the face of one of the worst recessions in the region’s history. GDP is falling in most countries. Unemployment in the...
ThinkstockMarkit issued manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) numbers for June for France, Italy and Spain. The figures painted a picture of a region still in recession with some modest...
ThinkstockThe finance ministers of EU nations set rules for bank bailouts, which put the primary pressure on bond and stock holders. It sets up the kind of public/private war that already has...
ThinkstockThe general manager of the Bank for International Settlements, Jaime Caruana, warned that central banks have gone too far in terms of making easy credit available to their economies. What...
ThinkstockThe European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BOE) have both voted to leave their key short-term rates flat at 0.50%. Despite the notion that Europe is still teetering on or in a...
ThinkstockIf you have watched the U.S. stock market rally in 2013, you might think that all the austerity and budget woes in Europe have passed. It turns out that Europeans themselves do not agree. A...
ThinkstockThe European Central Bank (ECB) was expected to deliver a rate cut on Thursday, and that is exactly what the market got. The overnight refi rate was cut to 0.50% from 0.75%. We also saw...
ThinkstockItaly is one of the PIIGS, and therefore one of the big troubled spots for investors to keep their eyes on. The good news is that if the hangman is still lurking, it seems that no one can...
ThinkstockIf you watch and read financial news avidly, you will almost certainly admit that with all of the stories on Washington D.C., the fiscal cliff, Obama administration officials leaving in...
ThinkstockEurope finally has a central banking authority, a move that many politicians and economists believe will help pull the region out of its financial crisis. It is hard to argue definitely...
ThinkstockLess than five years ago, economic Armageddon appeared at the door. Lehman Brothers failed. Merrill Lynch was sold to Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co....