All of the leading European stock indexes have been declining since the opening bell rang at the New York Stock Exchange. Fear is starting to spread in the market as many investors are expecting some European countries to need another bailout. The Institute for International Finance warned that a disorderly default by Greece would likely force Italy and Spain to seek financial aid. Portugal and Ireland have also been rumored to need a second bailout and everyone is now wondering where…

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This morning, the problems in the European Union are starting to surface once again. Recently, all of the major stock indexes have been floating higher steadily each and every day on extremely light volume. Often, stock rallies that lack volume and conviction can lead to sharp sell off days. At this time, there are reports that Greece may have to default and this could trigger a domino effect in many European credit default swaps (CDS). A credit default swap is basically an insurance…

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A couple of weeks ago the European Central Bank (ECB) created a new lending facility to the banks in Europe. The European banks could borrow capital from the ECB at 1.00 percent for up to three years. Since the program began there have been over 523 banks that have taken advantage of the lending facility. Many traders and investors expect this to help the stock markets in the European Union, however, the charts on these indexes still look very ugly.



The iShares…

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The major stock indexes have played out just the same way they did yesterday. The markets sold off into the noon hour only to reverse and trade sharply higher throughout the afternoon. The intra-day pivot points and the chart patterns in the session are almost exactly the same as yesterday. The catalyst for the stock market rally was once again the declining U.S. Dollar Index. The U.S. Dollar Index plummeted lower when the Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, said that he may…

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It is still amazing how the stock market reacts to all of the news coming out of Europe. The reaction from all of the Greek news is somewhat comical. Why in God's earth would the Greek government not default? It is absolutely in their best interest to simply go bankrupt. They have milked the European Central Bank (ECB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the American tax payer who is the largest contributor to the IMF for all they can. If the Greek government goes bankrupt at…

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This afternoon, the major stock indexes are still under severe selling pressure. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is trading lower by more than 440.00 points to 10,674.00. The one factor that is helping the stock indexes from declining lower is the quick drop in the U.S. Dollar Index. Around 2:20 pm EST there was news released that the European Union was looking to quickly capitalize the banks in the Euro-zone. We have to chuckle, what have they been doing for the past two years? All of… Continue

This afternoon, the popular and highly followed German DAX closed lower by over 4.00 percent to 5189.93. This is a fresh new 52 week closing low for the most important stock index in the European Union. The iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund ETF (NYSE:EWG) is trading lower by 0.92 cents to $17.89 a share. Traders must now watch for the next support area on the EWG which is at $16.75. This support pivot was made on the daily chart going back to July 2009. After that next support level the… Continue

This recent stock market decline can now be compared to the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis also called the Asian Contagion. This time around it is the European Union collapse that is the leading catalyst for the declines in the stock market. Throughout history the markets have a tendency to repeat themselves in different regions. The debt that all Western countries have is really overwhelming when you think about it. What else could we expect when these numerous countries have higher debt… Continue

Since July 21, 2011, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has dropped lower by 786.0 points, the popular stock index is now trading below the psychological 12,000 level. This is one fast and massive drop for all of the major stock indexes in such a short period of time. The debt ceiling bill has been passed by the politicians and the stock market participants do not care. If the politicians caved on the debt deal because of the stock market they sure look silly now. In any case, there is now… Continue

The major stock market indexes all sold off lower this morning after staging a sharp gap higher open. The catalyst for the stock market pop at the open was obviously the passing of a debt ceiling resolution in Washington. Shortly after it looked as if a compromise was made by both parties, statements from leading members of the Congress have said that they are not sure if they will vote for the deal. The stock market only wants to have certainty. Even if the debt ceiling was not increased… Continue

The iShares MSCI Italy Index Fund (NYSE:EWI) is trading lower this morning by $1.02 to $15.41 a share. The 6.25 percent decline in the EWI could be just the start of things to come as the country could be the next nation to need of a European bailout. In June 2010, the EWI traded as low as $13.21 a share. This tells us that EWI could still decline a lot further before reaching some major daily chart support. The EWI will have some intra-day support around the $14.90 area.



Most other… Continue