Moving swiftly from the realm of tin foil-hat conspiracy to a bullet point being openly talked about as a fait accompli by international financiers, an exit by Greece from the European common currency dominated conversation this week. But what would actually happen if Greece left the euro?
Futures on major U.S. indices point to a higher opening Friday ahead of the Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index and Inflation Expectation survey.
Asian markets fell Friday on increasing concerns about China?s economic slowdown and Greece exiting the euro zone.
Investors are increasingly making a flight to quality as they pull out of credit-default swaps hedges on Europe's primary index as well as the markets for periphery nations like Spain, a trend which indicates higher expectations that periphery nations are unable to repay their debts and a lack of confidence in the political will of the economic union.
The talks between the permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany (P5+1) ended in Baghdad after two days of tough negotiations surrounding Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program, which Iran had threatened to walk out of following the P5+1's refusal to scale back economic sanctions.
Greece, a country that accounts for less than 2 percent of the union's GDP, continues to wreak havoc among EU leaders as they plead and threaten the Mediterranean basket case to abide by a harsh medicine of tax rises, welfare cuts and liberalization.
Iran rejected a proposal to curb uranium enrichment during the second day of nuclear talks with Western powers in Baghdad Thursday.
Elton John was hospitalized on Wednesday, May 23, for a serious respiratory infection. Doctors reportedly ordered the Tiny Dancer singer to postpone seven days' worth of concerts, as he needs complete rest and antibiotic treatment to prevent damage.
Speaking at a summit in Brussels, the heads of Germany and several EU institutions all urged the debt-stricken country to stick to the deeply unpopular tax hikes, labor reforms and welfare cuts that have divided Greece and pushed it to the brink of exiting the currency union.
The common currency was punished overnight as sentiment regarding Greece turned from bad to worse.
The talks between world powers and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program came to a standstill Thursday as it accused the P5+1 group (five permanent members of the UN and Germany) of creating a difficult atmosphere hindering talks.
The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading Thursday are: Hewlett-Packard Company, Activision Blizzard Inc, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Arch Coal Inc., Aviva Plc, Siemens AG and China Telecom Corporation Limited.
Futures on major U.S. indices point to a lower opening Thursday ahead of initial jobless claims and durable orders data.
As European leaders struggled to hold the euro zone together at a nighttime summit in Brussels, a widening gap emerged between Germany and France, which are now under new management.
Oracle Corp. (Nasdaq: ORCL), the No. 1 database company, said it would acquire private cloud media marketer Vitrue for an undisclosed sum a day after German rival SAP (NYSE: SA), Europe's No. 1 software company, offered to acquire e-commerce specialist Ariba Inc. (Nasdaq: ARBA) for $4.3 billion.
Kim Dotcom Schmitz, the German-born founder of Megaupload, is now looking to defend himself in court, but in order to do so, he has demanded that his hard drives and his computers -- all 135 of them -- be returned to him so he can use the data for his defense.
The latest call to arms comes as world powers met with Iran for talks in Baghdad, with the Iranians promising a new and comprehensive package of proposals.
The election of Hollande earlier this month has fractured the traditional Franco-German alliance, with the French premier's desire to tackle the sovereign debt crisis through growth clashing with Chancellor Angela Merkel's predominantly austerity-led agenda.
In 2010 Microsoft filed a lawsuit against Motorola over patent fees for Xbox 360 technology. The phone manufacturer then countered with a lawsuit against Microsoft that could affect Xbox 360 sales in the United States.
Investors on Wednesday eagerly snatched up a new two-year German bond with a zero-percent coupon, meaning investors were willing to pay to loan money to Europe's strongest economy when expected inflation is factored in. The yield ended at 0.07 percent.
Asian, European and U.S. stocks fell hard Wednesday on rising fears and uncertainty about a possible Greek exit from the euro zone as well as concerns over slowing economic growth.
The talks between representatives of the U.S., Russia, France, Britain, Germany, China and Iran are aimed at diffusing rising tension in the region, with Iran seeking a reprieve from crippling sanctions imposed on its energy and banking sectors.
