Bob Kirtley

5/18/2012 9:15:21 AM

Silver prices remain under pressure. However, investors may be wise to hold out for the price to go even lower. It could be worth the wait

Greece, the tin pot tail  of Europe appears to wagging the economic dog of Europe at will as their  inability to appoint a pro-austerity government has failed. This situation is  further exasperated by France, with its newly elected ‘no austerity’ leader,  stating that he will spend more now and not less in an attempt to boost  economic activity if France. The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is now toast  after suffering a significant blow as voters in Germany’s largest state rejected  her austerity policies.

Europe is fragmenting at  an alarming rate with confidence being rocked on a daily basis and the Euro  taking a drubbing. The main beneficiary appears to be the US Dollar, for no  other reason than it is an alternative position to take.

The fallout from all  this uncertainty is also taking its toll on both gold and silver prices, along  with the associated producers as we watch them drift ever lower. For those of  us who own these assets it’s hard to stomach, but for those who have yet to  enter this tiny market sector or who wish to increase their exposure to it, it  appears that a fabulous buying opportunity lies ahead.

Taking a quick look at  the chart we can see that the 50-day moving average (dma) didn’t make the  crossover of the 200dma, that we were hoping for and so the pressure remains on  silver prices. The drop below $30.00 that we have alluded to has now happened.  We see this as at or close to a possible buying opportunity, however it could  go as low as $26.00, so it could be worth the wait for slightly better prices.

Also note that the RSI  has dipped below the ’30′ level which is usually a sign that silver is oversold  and that a bounce could be on the cards. This is not always the case and it  can’t be relied on totally, but it does suggest that the selling is overdone at  this point.

In terms of actionable  data we are not too keen on the mining sector at the moment as they could well  be sold off should there be a general sell off in the major market sectors, a  case of the baby being thrown out with the bath water. However, if we do get to  see lower silver prices then there should be an opportunity in the options arena for us to  take advantage of, something that we are researching in an attempt to unearth  some real value.

Stay tuned for further  developments.

Email:bob@gold-prices.biz

* Gold on track to snap two-week run of weekly losses

* Euro recovers from four-month low versus dollar

* Silver outperforms gold as prices turn positive (Updates prices, adds
comment)

By Jan Harvey

LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) – Gold rose more than 1 percent on Friday, building
on the previous session’s hefty gains, as a recovery in the euro prompted fresh
buying of the precious metal after prices slid to five-month lows earlier this
week.

Spot gold was up 1.1 percent at $1,591.10 an ounce at 1332 GMT, having
earlier touched a high of $1,594.10, while U.S. gold futures for June delivery were
up $16.50 an ounce at $1,591.40.

Gold posted its biggest one-day gain since Jan. 25 on Thursday in a reversal
that has put it on track to end the week 0.7 percent higher, snapping two weeks
of losses.

“For the first time in ages yesterday, gold divorced itself from the euro and
started to improve on the crosses,” said Simon Weeks, head of precious metal at
the Bank of Nova Scotia.

“A lot of blame for the move has been laid at the door of (Thursday’s weaker
than expected)Philly Fed numbers, but I think the market was overcooked on the
downside and having held above $1,522 was ripe for a bounce.”

However, a lack of major volume in the market meant the move did not change
his negative view of gold, he added.

The euro recovered from a four-month lows against the dollar to move into
positive territory, taking some pressure off gold, though concerns over a Greek
euro exit and instability in the Spanish banking system meant confidence was
weak.

Gold bucked the trend in the wider markets to trend lower, with European
shares falling 0.6 percent and oil prices slipping to their lowest this
year.

The metal’s relationship to heightened risk aversion has been rocky since the
start of the euro zone crisis. It rose
to record highs last year in part because investors were buying the metal as a
safe store of value, but as the dollar and treasuries found greater favour as
havens, it slipped back along with the euro.

Its price fall to its lowest since January has tempted investors back,
however.

“Yesterday, gold defied a stronger dollar, weaker equities, and another raft
of negative EU headlines (to rise). It felt like the gold market of
yesteryears,” UBS said in a note.

MOMENTUM KEY

“To see a return of gold reacting positively to macro stresses is indeed
refreshing, but it is still far too early to make any firm conclusions from here
that gold has indeed turned the corner,” it added. “Momentum will be key, and
follow-through buying will have to kick in to encourage investors to jump
in.”

“More importantly, gold’s reaction function will have to consistently exhibit
its safe haven properties, and do so for some time to attract strategic
buying.”

Holdings of gold-backed exchange-traded funds tracked by Reuters, which issue
securities backed by physical metal, edged up 76,000 ounces on Thursday, but
remained under the 70 million ounce level they slipped below a week
ago.

Among other precious metals, silver was up 1.7 percent at $28.52 an
ounce.

The gold/silver ratio, which measures the number of silver ounces needed to
buy an ounce of gold, touched 56.6 this week its highest since late December,
easing back on Friday to around 56 as silver outperformed gold in a rising
market.

Spot platinum was up 0.6 percent at $1,455.74 an ounce, while spot palladium
was up 0.9 percent at $603.08 an ounce. Both metals underperformed surging gold
prices, with the gold:platinum ratio rising to a 3-1/2 month high at
1.09.

As chiefly industrial metals used in autocatalysts, platinum and palladium
are more exposed than gold to the economic cycle, and have suffered from a lack
of car demand in recent years. Industry players gathered in London from Platinum
Week this week were pessimistic that prices would recover soon.

“Ever-tightening margins should reduce the appetite for investment in the
sector, and that should, in turn, result in slower production growth,” RBS said
in a note. “(We) continue to see rising production costs as a key driver of a
sustainably higher platinum price in the future.”

In a rare positive story for the metal, a senior official of Hong Kong-based
jeweller Luk Fook said that China’s platinum jewellery market, the world’s
largest, has great potential for growth as rising wealth fuels luxury product
demand. (Reporting by Jan Harvey; editing by Keiron Henderson)

By Aaron Smith

May 18, 2012: 8:09 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — European markets were mixed Friday as investors remained anxious about Spanish and Greek banks, while Asian stocks sold off sharply amid worries of a further slowdown in China.

London’s FTSE (UKX) fell more than 1% and the DAX (DAX) in Frankfurt slipped 0.3% in midday trading. The CAC 40 (CAC40) in Paris managed to eke out mild gains.

European markets are “plagued” by the Moody’s downgrade of 16 Spanish banks, according to Deutsche Bank analysts Colin Tan and Jim Reid.

Moody’s blamed its downgrade on “adverse operating conditions, characterized by the renewed recession, the ongoing real estate crisis and persistent high levels of unemployment” in Spain.

Also on Thursday, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded four regions of Spain because of poor fiscal performance.

“It’s not going to go down in history as a great day for Spanish banks,” said Investec analysts Elisabeth Afseth and Brian Barry.

Shares of Spain’s largest bank, Bankia, plummeted 14% Thursday over fears that Spaniards would make a run on the nationalized bank. But the stock recovered Friday after Bankia reportedly said depositers “have nothing to fear.” The bank’s stock surged 24%.

Spain’s IBEX 35 index also showed mild signs of strength Friday, gaining 1.2%. Banco Santander (STD) jumped 4.9% in U.S. trading and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) gained 5%.

A similar situation was unfolding in Greece, where consumers and businesses were making massive withdrawals from banks. Also, Fitch Ratings downgraded Greek government debt deeper into junk bond territory on Thursday .

JERUSALEM | Thu May 17, 2012 6:51am EDT

(Reuters) – U.S. plans for a possible military strike on Iran are ready and the option is
“fully available”, the U.S. ambassador to Israel said, days before Tehran
resumes talks with world powers which suspect it of seeking to develop nuclear
arms.

Like Israel, the United States has said it considers military force a last
resort to prevent Iran using its uranium enrichment to make a bomb. Iran insists
its nuclear program is for purely civilian purposes.

“It would be preferable to resolve this diplomatically and through the use of
pressure than to use military force,” Ambassador Dan Shapiro said in remarks
about Iran aired by Israel’s Army Radio on Thursday.

“But that doesn’t mean that option is not fully available – not just
available, but it’s ready. The necessary planning has been done to ensure that
it’s ready,” said Shapiro, who the radio station said had spoken on
Tuesday.

The United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany have been using
sanctions and negotiations to try to persuade Iran to curb its uranium
enrichment, which can produce fuel for reactors, medical isotopes, and, at
higher levels of purification, fissile material for warheads.

New talks opened in Istanbul last month and resume on May 23 in
Baghdad.

Israel, which is widely assumed to have the Middle East’s only atomic
arsenal, feels threatened by the prospect of its arch-foe Iran going nuclear and
has hinted it could launch preemptive war.

But many analysts believe the United States alone has the military clout to
do lasting damage to Iran’s nuclear program.

In January, Shapiro told an Israeli newspaper the United States was
“guaranteeing that the military option is ready and available to the president
at the moment he decides to use it”.

U.S. lawmakers are considering additional legislation that would increase
pressure on Iran, with further measures to punish foreign companies for dealing
with Iran in any capacity.

(Writing by Maayan
Lubell; Editing by Andrew
Roche)

By Silvia Antonioli

Updates after U.S. job data)

* Gold lifts from 2012 lows, option expiry supports

* Silver up after eight-day fall

* Physical buying seen increasing

LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) – Gold rose more than 1 percent on Thursday,
bouncing off a 4-1/2 month low, as weaker prices attracted new physical buyers,
but gains were likely to be limited as the euro was undermined by fears of a
deepening debt crisis in Greece.

Spot gold rose 1 percent to $1,553.80 an ounce by 1307 GMT, from $1,538.30
late in New York on Wednesday, when it plunged to $1,527 – its weakest since
Dec. 29.

The precious metal rose to a high of $1,557.56 earlier, helped by the
approaching expiry of gold options in the COMEX futures market.

U.S. gold futures hit a high of $1,557.90 an ounce and were at $1,554.30, up
1.1 percent. The contract had plunged to a multi-month low of $1,526.70 on
Wednesday.

Gold, traditionally a safe-haven asset, has been moving in tandem with
riskier assets such as equities, industrial metals and oil this year, as
investors turned to the safety of the dollar.

However, this may soon change, according to some.

“Since yesterday we have seen more interest come through from physical
buyers…because prices have come down substantially,” said Afshin Nabavi, head
of trading at MKS Finance.

“But there is more upside than downside risk for gold at the moment as the
political situation is very jittery with tension in Iran and economic problems
especially in the euro zone. People will want to buy physical gold again. Those
who went out since December are now waiting for prices to stabilize before
getting in again.”

Since last year, many investors have unwound their bullish bets in gold,
cashing in the metal to cover for losses in other markets, after the turmoil in
Europe raised the prospect of a recession that threatens to hurt the global
economy.

But in China, gold demand hit a record
high in the first quarter due to investor worries over inflation and property
market curbs, the World Gold Council said on Thursday, bucking a lower trend in
global consumption driven by higher gold prices.

A June options expiry in the COMEX futures market also helped support the
metal as many investors consider the current gold price a good entry point,
analysts said.

“This is a value buy; in volatile times people go back to the charts,” said
Nick Moore, global commodity analyst at RBS.

“We have had a sharp sell off which has uncovered the value of the metal and
people are seeing $1,530 as an attractive entry point for gold.”

Gold was little changed after government data showed that new U.S. claims for
unemployment benefits were unchanged last week. That will do little to ease
concerns about a recent slowdown in jobs growth.

PHYSICAL BUYING

“Evidently, some buying on the dips emerged above December lows also with
fresh physical inflows with prices starting to look attractive,” said VTB
Capital in a research note.

“Some physical interest is welcome, but much more serious buying out of Asia
needs to emerge for us to see a sustained recovery. For now, the investor
community remains spooked and is unlikely to return to the market with full
vigour unless we have a monumental credit event in Europe or a pronounced dollar
retreat.”

The euro slid to a four-month low against the dollar and was expected to
remain under pressure as concerns grow about problems facing some periphery euro zone banks and the
prospect of contagion if Greece exits the euro.

A weaker euro against the dollar makes dollar-priced commodities such as
precious metals costlier for euro holders.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde warned of “extremely expensive” consequences if
Greece were to leave the euro zone, a once taboo possibility that European
leaders have begun to discuss openly given the nation’s political
chaos.

Investors were also focusing on Spain, whose borrowing costs shot up at a
bond auction after economic data confirmed the country is back in recession and
reports that nationalised Bankia had suffered an outflow of deposits hammered
its share price.

In other precious metals, silver was up 2.21 percent on the day at $27.74 an
ounce, having fallen for eight days in a row, its longest losing streak since a
10-day decline that began in late August 2008, just before the global financial
crisis claimed some of Wall Street’s biggest banks.

Platinum was up 1.4 percent at $1,442.70 an ounce, while palladium rose 1.88
percent to $598 an ounce. (Additional reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; in SINGAPORE;
editing by Keiron Henderson)

By: Reuters

Published: Thursday, 17 May 2012 | 8:34 AM ET

New U.S. claims for unemployment
benefits were unchanged last week, according to government data on Thursday that
will do little to ease concerns about a recent slowdown in jobs growth.

The prior week’s figure was
revised up to 370,000 from the previously reported 367,000.

Economists polled by Reuters had
forecast claims falling to 365,000 last week. The four-week moving average for
new claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends, fell 4,750 to
375,000.

“We are really not showing much
momentum in the labor market at this time,” said Sean Incremona, an economist at
4Cast in New York.

The data comes on the heels of
three straight months of slowing employment gains.
Companies added 115,000 new jobs to their payrolls in April, the fewest in six
months.

Thursday’s report on claims
covered the week for May’s payrolls survey. The four-week average of new
applications fell marginally between the April and May survey periods,
suggesting not much change in labor market conditions.

Still, many economists think the
April report gave an overly dim view of the economy, and pin the
pull-back in job creation as payback for a mild winter that boosted gains in
prior months.

The U.S. Federal
Reserve

appears disinclined to ramp up
its support for the economy anytime soon unless the recovery stumbles. Minutes
from the Fed’s April meeting released on Wednesday supported that view.
1/8ID:nL1E8GGKXS 3/8

While growth in hiring has slowed,
the economy has given other signs of more spark. Data on Wednesday showed
groundbreaking for U.S. homes rebounded in April and factory activity gained
momentum.

Still, Europe’s debt crisis and
the possibility that the tax burden of U.S. households could increase next year
pose substantial risks for the economy. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner
acknowledged these risks before a group of business leaders in Baltimore,
Maryland, also warning about higher oil prices.

“We face some very tough
challenges. But they are manageable challenges for the United States. And I
prefer our challenges to those of any economy anywhere in the world,” he said.

A Labor Department official said
there was nothing unusual in the state-level claims data and no states had been
estimated.

The number of people still
receiving benefits under regular state programs after an initial week of aid
rose 18,000 to 3.27 million in the week ended May 5.

The number of Americans on
emergency unemployment benefits fell 22,150 to 2.67 million in the week ended
April 28, the latest week for which data is available.

The number of people on extended
benefits slipped 45,824 to 304,755. Most states that were eligible for the
extended benefits program following the 2007-09 recession lost that eligibility
this year as their labor markets improved or stabilized.

That could artificially push down
the unemployment rate if people dropping off the benefits rolls give up the hunt
for work.

A drop in the share of working-age
Americans either with a job or looking for one to near a 30-year low pushed the
jobless rate down to 8.1 percent last month from 8.2 percent in March.

A total of 6.27 million people
were claiming unemployment benefits during the week ending April 28 under all
programs, down 149,759 from the prior week.

By Amanda Cooper

Wed May 16, 2012 8:24am EDT

Gold eases as dollar profits from Greek worries

* Silver set for longest string of declines since 2008

* Coming up: U.S. April industrial production; 1315 GMT

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) – Gold fell for a fourth straight day to its lowest
since late December on Wednesday, sucked into a broad-based sell-off that dented
global markets on the back of alarm over political turmoil in Greece.

Gold dropped along with other more industrial commodities such as copper and
crude oil, under pressure from the rise of the dollar, which put silver on track
for its longest stretch of consecutive daily losses in nearly four
years.

Fears a Greek exit from the euro zone would worsen the
European debt crisis gripped financial markets on Wednesday, sending shares and
other riskier assets lower as investors shifted funds into safe havens like the
U.S. dollar.

The euro touched four-month lows against the dollar, Spanish and Italian bond
yields soared, while European equities hit their lowest level for the
year.

Spot gold fell 0.3 percent to $1,538.81 an ounce by 1200 GMT, having dropped
by nearly 4.0 percent in the last four days. The price was set for its longest
stretch of consecutive losses in nearly five months.

“It’s difficult to see a turnaround just yet. There will be one, but I don’t
think this is the time, just when we are in the eye of the storm,” Societe
Generale analyst Robin Bhar said.

“Clearly, with people staring into the abyss, it could (fall) $50 or even
$100 lower as it washes out. That is the unpredictability of it all and as
equities fall, as the Greeks take money out of the banks and the banking sector
collapses, I suppose you’d have to be wary of further price falls just to cover
for losses in other markets,” he said.

Gold tends to trade inversely to the dollar, so that strength in the U.S.
unit encourages non-U.S. investors to sell their gold in exchange for greater
profits in their own currencies.

Undermining investor sentiment, Greece’s president spoke of “fear that could
develop into panic” at the country’s banks in the weeks before fresh elections
that could precipitate Athens’ exit from the euro zone, while evidence emerged
of locals pulling their euro funds out of banks for fear of their country’s exit
from the currency bloc.

BIG BULLS HOLD

In a small positive for gold, billionaire fund manager John Paulson held on
to his stake in the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR
Gold Trust, in the first quarter of this year, according to a regulatory filing
by his company released on Tuesday.

The prospect of improvement in physical demand for gold from the Indian
jewellery sector took a knock on Wednesday with the drop in the rupee to a
record low against the dollar, driven by the widespread risk aversion rattling
global markets.

Buying in India, the world’s largest bullion consumer, has emerged with the
decline in the dollar-denominated gold price to 4-1/2 month lows this week, but
local dealers have said the weakness in the rupee could curb this.

“Definitely physical buying has gone up, although demand is not overwhelming.
Indonesia has slowed down
because there’s a public holiday tomorrow, while Thailand is buying,” said a
dealer in Singapore.

“India did buy gold last night. They are not really in the market yet today,
but I am sure they will be buying.”

The wedding season is underway in India and will taper off by the end of the
month. Gold jewellery is an essential part of the dowry Indian parents give to
their daughters at weddings.

In other precious metals, silver was down nearly 0.9 percent on the day at
$27.45 an ounce, having fallen for eight days in a row, its longest losing
streak since a 10-day decline that began in late August 2008, just before the
global financial crisis claimed some of Wall Street’s biggest banks.

Silver has lost nearly 11.5 percent in this time, compared with a 6-percent
decline in the gold price over the same number of days.

This has left the gold/silver ratio — the number of ounces of silver needed
to buy one ounce of gold — at 56.07, its highest since the start of the year.
The higher the ratio, the greater the outperformance of gold relative to
silver.

Platinum was roughly flat on the day at $1,424.25 an ounce and was on the
verge of wiping out all of its gains for the year to date. So far in 2012,
platinum is showing a 2.2 percent gain, having retreated from a year-to-date
gain of 27 percent in late February.

Palladium edged up 0.2 percent on the day to $594.72, having fallen to its
lowest since late November. (Additional reporting by Rujun Shen in Singapore;
editing by Keiron Henderson)

By Harry Papachristou and Andreas Rinke

ATHENS/BERLIN |

Wed May 16, 2012 9:07am EDT

May 16 (Reuters) – Greeks are voting with their wallets and pulling euros out of
the banks in fear that their country may leave the European single currency
despite the declared determination of EU powers Germany and France to keep Athens in the
monetary union.

As financial markets shuddered over the deepening turmoil in Athens on
Wednesday, a chorus of sceptical politicians and central bankers from London to
Ottawa predicted the euro zone could fall apart
soon unless European governments act more decisively to save the
currency.

“It either has to make up or it is looking at a potential break-up,” British
Prime Minister David Cameron told parliament in London. “That is the choice they
have to make, and it is a choice they cannot long put off.”

Greek President Karolos Papoulias warned political leaders that citizens were
withdrawing their money due to “great fear that could develop into panic” at the
risk of a debt default and exit from the euro area, according to minutes of
their meetings posted on the presidency’s website.

The president, who tried in vain to broker a national unity government,
appointed a senior judge, Panagiotis Pikrammenos, as caretaker prime minister on
Wednesday until a second general election in just over a month is held on June
17.

The failure of Papoulias’ talks to avert a repeat election sent judders
around financial markets, hitting global share prices and other riskier
assets.

Investors fled to the U.S. dollar and safe-haven German bonds while the euro
lost almost a cent to fall to a four-month low below $1.27. Spanish and Italian
bond yields spiked while a key index of European shares fell to its lowest level
this year.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and new French President Francois Hollande
sought to quell talk of a possible Greek departure from the euro zone after
their first meeting on Tuesday evening, which focused on ways out of the
17-nation currency area’s debt crisis.

“We agreed that we want Greece to stay in the euro,”
Merkel told a joint news conference in Berlin, adding that Athens must respect
the conditions set in a second international bailout agreement signed in
March.

CONSEQUENCES

Nearly two thirds of Greeks voted on May 6 for parties of the radical left
and far right which oppose the terms of the EU/IMF assistance programme, which
has imposed steep wage and pension cuts, deepening a four-year
recession.

Policymakers from European Union states and the European Central Bank have
warned they would stop sending Athens the cash it needs to stay afloat if a new
government tears up the plan.

European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said the Greek people must now
make a fully informed decision understanding the consequences for their
country’s future.

“The ultimate resolve to stay in the euro area must come from Greece itself,”
Barroso told a news conference.

But many Greek voters believe they can stay in the euro without abiding by
the conditions imposed to obtain the bailouts, as promised by Alexis Tsipras,
the charismatic 37-year-old leader of the surging leftist SYRIZA party.

A second opinion poll showed that SYRIZA, which opposes the austerity
conditions attached to the assistance programme, is consolidating gains and is
on track to become the biggest group in parliament in a re-run vote, pulling
ahead of mainstream pro-bailout centre-left and centre-right parties.

The determination to keep Greece in the euro spelled out by Merkel and
Hollande may be undermined by sniping from several EU finance ministers, including Germany’s
own Wolfgang Schaeuble, who have publicly envisaged a possible Greek
exit.

Merkel’s office complained to Austria after Finance Minister Maria Fekter
suggested this week that Greece could be thrown out of the EU as a result of its
economic crisis, the newspaper Oesterreich reported.

ALARM

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said on Tuesday that
Greece would either have to be given more time and money to meet its debt
reduction targets or else euro zone countries would have to begin planning for
its exit.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy voiced the alarm of a country that could
be next in the firing line if Greece left.

“I don’t want Greece to exit the euro,” he told parliament in Madrid, as
Spain’s risk premium over benchmark German 10-year bonds rose to more than 5
percentage points, a euro era high.

“I believe it would be a major error, it would be bad news and I believe we
have to guarantee the sustainability of public debt and then all of us comply
with our commitments, which is what we are doing in Spain, what Italy is trying to do and what
all the other countries are also trying to do.”

In a blow to Rajoy’s efforts to clean up Spain’s debt-laden financial sector,
shares in recently nationalised lender Bankia tumbled 10 percent on Wednesday
after it delayed first quarter results, raising fears that the government will
have to inject more cash.

Bankia lies at the core of concerns about Spanish banks’ problems after a
2008 property crash. Many analysts believe Madrid or the EU will have to inject
funds to avert a collapse of the financial system, worsening the euro zone debt
crisis.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, whose heavily indebted country is also in
markets’ sights despite economic reforms praised by the IMF, said that U.S.
President Barack Obama was seriously concerned about the euro zone situation,
which will be on the agenda of a G8 summit in Camp David at the
weekend.

Obama spoke to Monti on Tuesday and the White House said they agreed on the
need to intensify efforts to revive economic growth and job creation in Europe,
apparently siding with Hollande in his drive to temper German-led austerity
policies.

Among the sceptical chorus, Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, a
frequent scourge of the euro zone, said this week that Europeans should abandon
the single currency if they were not willing to do more to assist member states
in trouble.

“They have to do the right thing, use some of their taxpayers’ money to bail
out some of the weaker members of the euro zone – or start moving away from the
euro zone and just say this was an experiment that has not worked,” he told CTV
television.

Bank of England governor Mervyn King told a news conference in London that
the euro zone, which Britain refused to join, was “tearing itself apart without
any obvious solution”.

“Whatever happens, there are major problems ahead, there are credit losses to
be realised and however they choose a solution here, it is going to be a very
difficult path to go through because countries like Germany and the Netherlands
have yet to face up to their rebalancing,” King said.

Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spy For Killing Nuclear Scientist

By Amrutha Gayathri