LITTLE SOUTHERN COMFORT: The weekend plan to rescue Spain’s ailing banks was supposed to boost confidence in Spain and the other 16 countries that use the euro. But skeptics said it would only provide temporary relief and it barely even did that.
ROLLER COASTER RIDE: Stocks and bonds surged in the first hour of trading on Monday on the weekend news that Spain would funnel to banks up to €100 billion ($124.7 billion) in loans from its euro partners. But hours later, stock prices were back down, and government borrowing costs rose.
MORE WORRIES: Italy confirmed Monday that it is in recession. Cyprus said it is considering applying for an emergency loan package for its banks. And Greece holds a national election Sunday and a party with a real chance of winning has campaigned on a plan to refuse to live up to the terms of the country’s $170 billion international aid package. If it were to do that, Greece could be forced to leave the euro.
