Portugal’s Lousy Bill Auction Provides Euro-Zone Reminder

By Dave Kansas

Things seem a bit quieter on the periphery of the euro-zone, but that doesn’t mean everything is all better. Portugal’s bill auction today provides a stark reminder.

The Portuguese sold 500 million euros of three-month bills. The yield? A whopping 3.4% — which is nearly double the 1.82% it paid for a similar auction in early November.

By comparison, the U.S. is paying 3.4% yields on 10-year bonds – a duration 40 times longer. Bond investors tend to demand higher yield for longer durations. Portugal’s 10-year bond yield is 6.54%, which trails only Greece (11.95%) and Ireland (8.42%) in the euro-zone. Germany pays the lowest yield in the zone at 3.03%.

So, the bill auction tells us that the euro-zone problems remain, even if the panic has subsided for the time being.

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Surge Republican funding provides the crucial advantage

Los Angeles Times:

Powered by a wave of money outside, the Republicans have begun wants a democratic Assembly seats once security and GOP reach - a reader who threatens to reshape the electoral map and raises the spectre of a rout historic two weeks mid-term elections.

Groups such as American crossroads and American action network said last week that they were reduced more than 50 millions of dollars in House races to save applicants Republican, 50 million already passed by House arm of the group image campaign.

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