Buddah Lineage

FIRST Greece; then Ireland and Portugal; then Italy and Spain. Month by month, the crisis in the euro area has crept from the vulnerable periphery of the currency zone towards its core, helped by denial, misdiagnosis and procrastination by the euro-zone’s policymakers. Recently Belgian and French government bonds have been in the financial markets’ bad books. Investors are even sniffy about German bonds: an auction of ten-year Bunds on November 23rd shifted only €3.6 billion-worth ($4.8 billion) of the €6 billion-worth on offer. Worse, there are signs that the euro zone’s economy is heading for recession, if it is not there already. Industrial orders in the euro zone fell by 6.4% in September, the steepest decline since the dark days of December 2008. A closely watched index of euro-zone sentiment, based on surveys of purchasing managers in manufacturing and services, is also signalling contraction, with a reading of 47.2: anything below 50 suggests activity ...

  "I don't think any of us can feel confident one way or another about whether all the countries that are currently in the euro zone will still be in it," he said. He was speaking folllowing a weak sale of German 10-year bond sale as investors shunned the paper, raising fears that the debt crisis was starting to infect the eurozone's biggest economy. Frank Schaeffler, of the junior coalition partner Free Democrats (FDP), said: "The debt crisis is burrowing ever deeper, like a worm, and is now reaching Germany." The euro stayed near seven-week lows against the dollar on Thursday as worries over the crisis persist. Makoto Noji, a senior strategist at SMBC Nikko Securities, said: "If Germany has to pay higher costs for its borrowing, it's obvious it cannot help the entire euro zone. If German bond yields keep rising, that could even be a trigger for break-up of the euro."

  The UK's borrowing costs fell to a lower level than Germany for the first time in three years amid fears over the impact the euro crisis will have on the region's powerhouse economy. The yield on UK Government 10-year bonds fell to 2.16%, while the equivalent German costs rose to 2.21%, in a sign that investors have more faith in Britain's ability to cope with its debts. The rising borrowing costs in Germany followed the country's worst-received bond auction since the euro's launch as global investors appear to be turning their backs on Europe's biggest economy amid fears of a possible break-up of the eurozone. Chancellor George Osborne is likely to view the figures as evidence that his deficit-busting austerity measures are protecting the UK's position as a financial "safe haven". Anita Paluch, senior German liaison sales trader at Gekko Global Markets, said the rising costs in Germany emphasise "the seriousness of the state Europe is in...

  Don't just book it, Thomas Cook it. So runs the slogan. Would you? Here's interim (that's reassuring) chief executive Sam Weihagen doing his safe-as-houses routine: "It's business as usual. We are trading within all our covenants. We have all the protection in place like any other travel company, and customers should not worry at all." Well, not quite like any other travel company. Thomas Cook of course holds an Air Travel Organisers' Licence from the Civil Aviation Authority which means customers should get their money back in the event of calamity. But the simple fear of being stranded a week after passengers of Austria's Comtel Air had to bribe pilots with £20,000 just to return to Birmingham is bound to unsettle would-be customers. There's a circle at work here and it is vicious. Given the choice between a similarly priced holiday with Thomas Cook or, say, Thomson, why would you risk the former? To counteract this, Thomas Cook might have...

Thomas Cook planes parked at Munich airport last year. Photograph: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images Thomas Cook  is running low on cash and has begun talks with its banks, in an effort to increase its borrowings to tide it over the slow Christmas season. Shares in the tour operator fell by more than three quarters on Tuesday morning after it admitted that trading has "deteriorated" in recent months. It is now seeking to borrow more in the short term, and has postponed the publication of its financial results until the talks are concluded. Shares in the company, which  abruptly lost its chief executive three months ago , tumbled by more than 75% to 9.3p at one stage. Tour operators tend to run low on cash in the slower winter months, but even so, the news stunned the City. Only last month, Thomas Cook said it had agreed a further £100m in short-term funding from its banks explicitly for the winter lull. A spokeswoman said that discussions with banks were merely a "prude...

  British government bonds are attracting strong support, in sharp contrast to their troubled eurozone peers as investors seek a safehaven from a debt crisis now spreading to Italy, Spain and even France. British government bonds, or gilts as they are known, are in huge demand largely because the Bank of England is buying them up with newly-created money that it hopes can in turn be used to stimulate an anaemic economic recovery, analysts say. But investors are also reassured by the British coalition government's determined efforts to slash state debt and avoid the severe troubles that have snared the crisis-hit eurozone trio of Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

The PP mayor of El Ejido in Almería, Francisco Góngora, has criticized the "negligence" of the former government team and announced that the city council are to begin legal proceedings against the promotions company who were to stage a concert by the Rolling Stones in 2006. Following the findings of "many irregularities" in the case, the council are now seeking to claim a total of 2,251,000€, which they feel they are owed, in view of the cancellation. The announcement was made at a press conference in which Francisco Góngora claimed that there was a “contractual obligation” by the promoter to ensure that the concert went ahead and that even if the company were insolvent, then they would seek recompense from the individuals responsible for the incomplete commitment made to the previous government team. Information indicates that there was a contractual clause that stipulated that insurance must be provided that should the concert be cancelled, then t...