John Paulson, the billionaire hedge fund manager who foresaw the collapse of the US housing market, is shorting German government bonds in a wager that the eurozone debt crisis will significantly deepen in the coming months.
For investors, the words credit default swap can bring back painful memories of 2008. But in the case of Greece, the dreaded derivatives may not be the ticking time bomb some have feared.
Remember the bitter debt ceiling debate in Washington last summer? The one that resulted in the first-ever downgrade of the U.S. credit rating?
A dispute over pension cuts stalled talks last night between leaders of Greece's fractious national unity government on tough new austerity measures, one of the last hurdles to be cleared before eurozone officials can sign off on a ?130B ($172B) bailout and save Athens from a messy default. However, officials said they were still confident of reaching a deal by the morning.
Greece and its creditors in the private sector are grappling over a key detail of a deal aimed at reducing the nation's overwhelming debt load, according to a top eurozone official.
Greek debt talks are said to be progressing but officials have yet to announce a deal to scale back the nation's overwhelming debt load.
In a political gesture Wednesday, the U.S. House voted to "disapprove" the Obama administration's recent request to raise the nation's debt ceiling by $1.2 trillion.
The financial fate of Greece hangs in the balance this week, as officials reconvene over the contentious topic of Greek bonds, or more specifically, how big a writedown private investors are willing to take.
Talks over a deal to write down Greek government bonds have been put on "pause," according to the industry group representing private sector investors and banks.
The year couldn't end without a final word about the nation's debt ceiling.
Nomura has reduced its exposure to countries in the eurozone periphery by 75 per cent in the past two months in a move that highlights concerns about the growing risk of holding eurozone periphery government debt amid the region's crisis.
European bond yields rose Wednesday after a German bond auction flopped, undermining trust in eurozone government debt.
Stocks took a nosedive in the final hour of trading Wednesday, when investors got spooked by a Fitch report that outlined U.S. banks' exposure to contagion from European sovereign debt.
At long last, European leaders took a significant step forward on the long road toward resolving the eurozone's debt crisis.
European Union leaders announced an agreement early Thursday on debt crisis measures, including a hard-fought deal with private sector investors to take a 50% loss on Greek bonds.
CNN's Emily Reuben discusses withering hopes for a solution to the debt crisis in Europe.
France warned on Tuesday that European unity would be at risk if eurozone leaders failed to take bold action to tackle its sovereign debt crisis at a crucial summit this weekend.
France's finance minister speaks to Maggie Lake about the situation in Greece, and the growing European debt crisis.
CNN's Becky Anderson talks to IHS' Jan Randolph about the ongoing European debt crisis.
Fitch Ratings on Tuesday reaffirmed the United States' AAA credit rating.
Credit rating agency Standard and Poor's made good on its saber-rattling on Friday, and downgraded U.S. debt.
Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's on Friday downgraded the credit rating of the United States, stripping the world's largest economy of its prized AAA status.
Investors lose their nerve as EU and U.S. debt crisis weakness drags on. CNN talks to Mark Konyn, CEO of Asia Pacific.
Credit rating agency Moody's said Tuesday the United States will keep its sterling AAA credit rating for the time being, but lowered its outlook on U.S. debt to "negative."
China's only independent credit agency set to downgrade U.S. credit rating again. CNN's Stan Grant reports.
President Barack Obama on Tuesday signed a compromise plan raising the nation's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, averting what could have been an unprecedented national default.
The House approved a last-minute deal to raise the debt ceiling on Monday that will impose sweeping spending cuts, while narrowly averting an unprecedented national default.
Agreement was finally reached between the White House and Congress in negotiations to raise the debt ceiling. As politicians, markets, and citizens around the world breathe a sigh of relief, it is perhaps time to reflect on what we have learned from this crisis about the state of the U.S. and global economies. What was the commotion all about?
After weeks of bipartisan negotiations, President Barack Obama said congressional leaders agreed to a plan that would lift the nation's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling and avoid an unprecedented default on the nation's debt -- if, that is, members of Congress vote to approve the agreement.
CNN's Wolf Blitzer talks to Ali Velshi about what Sunday's deal means.
Sen. Mitch McConnell says a national default "is not going to happen," and that he's fully engaged in talks with the president.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, temporarily stopped legislative consideration of his debt ceiling proposal late Saturday night, reversing an earlier decision to hold a key procedural vote on the measure by 1 a.m. ET Sunday.
House Speaker John Boehner's plan to raise the nation's debt ceiling and slash government spending narrowly passed his chamber on Friday and then was blocked by Senate Democrats, setting up a weekend of negotiations to seek a deal that would avoid a potential federal default next week.
As U.S. debt ceiling negotiations get down to the wire, fund managers are shifting out of money market funds in case a debt default creates a pressing demand for cash.
The nation is just days away from the debt ceiling deadline, and no one knows exactly what will happen when the borrowing limit is reached. But even in the worst case scenarios, many experts think investors will flock to U.S. Treasuries.
Can the government afford to send out Social Security checks next week if the debt ceiling isn't raised?
Even if lawmakers manage to avoid a self-inflicted calamity by raising the debt ceiling, another economic scourge is lurking just around the corner.
Congress is at a stalemate over raising the federal debt ceiling, and Americans need to pressure their elected representatives to work out a compromise that will avoid a potentially devastating default, President Barack Obama told the nation Monday night.
The president addresses the nation on Washington's efforts to agree on a debt relief plan.
The following is the prepared transcript of House Speaker John Boehner's speech Monday night on debt reduction talks:
House Speaker John Boehner says he made a sincere effort to reach a bipartisan deal with the president.
Congress is at a stalemate over raising the federal debt ceiling, and Americans need to pressure their elected representatives to work out a compromise that will avoid a potentially devastating default, President Obama told the nation Monday night.
Democratic and Republican congressional leaders unveiled separate deficit reduction plans Monday as top officials scrambled to bridge a cavernous partisan divide and raise the federal government's debt ceiling before an unprecedented -- and potentially devastating -- national default.
As policymakers in Washington continue to butt heads over the debt ceiling, the response in the bond market Monday was relatively subdued.
The International Monetary Fund said Monday that a downgrade of the U.S. government's credit rating would be "extremely damaging" for the global economy.
Moody's Investors Service downgraded Greece again Monday, to one class above default, following a new bailout package from its European neighbors.
Lawmakers rushed Sunday to find a solution to the debt ceiling debate that would provide some measure of certainty for financial markets, even as both sides continued to spar in public.
Congress must reach a deal now to raise the federal debt ceiling through 2012 because "you don't want politics messing around with America's faith and credit," Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told CNN on Sunday.
It's very hard to see how this ends well.
House Speaker John Boehner walked away from debt talks with President Barack Obama's administration Friday, raising the stakes in the country's ongoing effort to stave off national default.
Prospects for a debt-ceiling deal dimmed late Friday afternoon when talks broke down between President Obama and House speaker John Boehner.
CNN's Richard Quest breaks down how the Greek debt crisis could spread to other markets and economies.
Obama said "some progress was made" on a deficit reduction plan put together by a bipartisan group of senators.
For the last week and a half, the yield on the 10-year bond has held below 3%, an indication of strong demand for US debt and a market that's confident the debt ceiling impasse will be resolved.
The U.S. House on Tuesday night passed the "cut, cap and balance" deficit reduction plan backed by tea party conservatives but dismissed by President Barack Obama, who offered strong praise for another proposal put together by a bipartisan group of senators.
Top administration and congressional officials are expected to continue working this week on a measure to raise the federal debt ceiling by up to $2.5 trillion, embracing a version of a fallback plan designed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to avoid a potentially catastrophic default.
Americans are angry and frustrated at the impasse in Washington. CNN's Felicia Taylor reports
Credit rating agency Moody's dinged a key backup plan to raise the debt ceiling Monday, and said the United States would be better off if the ceiling was eliminated entirely.
Amid talk of financial doom should the U.S. default, a glimmer of optimism is surfacing. CNN's Kate Bolduan reports.
Right now, some Republican lawmakers in Washington may be wondering how to wiggle out from between a rock and a hard place.
U.S. lawmakers got another stern warning from a leading credit rating agency on Thursday evening that there is now a very real possibility that the country's top-notch credit rating could be downgraded in the next three months.
Gideon Rachman of the Financial Times discusses how the U.S. and Britain are dealing with their debt issues.
House members react to Friday's dismal unemployment numbers.
Top congressional Republicans on Friday used a new dismal jobs report to blast Democrats' push for more tax revenue in the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations, arguing that such a move would derail an already shaky economic recovery.
You've heard the warnings by now.
Yonghao Pu, Chief Investment Strategist at UBS, discusses how the Greek debt crisis affects the Asian markets.
Newly-anointed chief White House correspondent Jessica Yellin questions Pres. Obama on a debt ceiling deal and deadline.
Ben Bernanke renewed his calls to Congress to stop holding the debt ceiling hostage.
Congress should tie any increase in the debt ceiling to "significant" spending cuts.
President Barack Obama told congressional Republicans on Wednesday that entitlement reforms were under discussion as part of a deficit reduction deal.
In a symbolic vote to send a message to budget negotiators, the House on Tuesday defeated a measure to raise the national debt ceiling without any accompanying deficit or spending reduction provisions.
Gather 'round! The House is going to vote on the debt ceiling!
Treasury prices were little changed Friday, as investors sat on their hands ahead of a barrage of economic data coming next week.
It's official: The U.S. government hit the debt ceiling on May 16.
It's official: The U.S. government hit the debt ceiling on May 16.
The recent debate to prevent a government shutdown reminds us that partisan politics have always been, and will likely always be, part of Washington. While it is certainly good a shutdown was averted, the $38 billion in cuts that were part of the deal barely dent our nation's growing debt.
U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, a Democrat, says Republicans want to balance the budget on the backs of the middle class.
The fallout from lawmakers' delay on the debt ceiling is getting real.
A leading Senate conservative said Sunday he can accept tax reform that increases overall tax revenue as part of a comprehensive deficit reduction plan.
Over and over Thursday, President Barack Obama told workers at a renewable energy company that he is like them.
Facing a possible future downgrade of America's credit rating, President Barack Obama on Tuesday told the first of three town hall-style meetings this week that a "big philosophical divide" exists between his approach to deficit reduction and how Republicans think.
President Barack Obama takes his deficit reduction proposal on the road this week with town hall-style events in three states that are important to his re-election bid in 2012.
Media watchdog Brent Bozell says coverage of the budget battle, including CNN's "In The Arena," is biased.
New York Rep. Anthony Weiner says the federal debt ceiling should be raised without any strings attached.
Sarah Palin delivered a harsh critique of President Obama's budget proposal during a rare Q-and-A session Thursday, and urged lawmakers to resist raising the nation's debt ceiling.
More investors appear to be betting that the United States' ever-rising debt load is going to get worse and are working to protect themselves against it.
The European contagion is back, as virulent as ever, posing a new risk to the health of the global financial system and economic recovery.
Fitch downgraded Spain's sovereign debt to a lower investment grade Friday, adding to continued concerns about European contagion.
CNN's Richard Quest interviews Former Greek economics minister Yiannos Papantoniou about Greece's debt crisis.
Standard and Poor's downgraded the sovereign debt ratings of Greece to junk status Tuesday, and lowered the investment grade status of Portugal, citing weak "macroeconomic structures" for the debt-troubled European nations.
Treasury prices slipped and shed their safe-haven appeal Friday after Greece said it will seek a bailout from the European Union to abet its debt crisis.
The term PIIGS has been coined to refer collectively to Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain. Aside from being a cute acronym, the term describes the actions of these countries very aptly as they have acted "piggish" in issuing debt to support overzealous government budgets. While the American media has at times made light of these countries and their PIIGS moniker, the same mistakes are at play in creating domestic pigs.
The United States isn't in jeopardy of losing its gold-plated credit rating, though by one measure America is closer to the ratings-downgrade danger zone than Spain.
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