Spain raised $2.6 billion in a bond sale this morning, but the higher interest rate of 6.1 percent shows that investors are still concerned that Spain has not wiped their hands clean of the financial mess just yet.
Spain's Deputy Prime Minister, Soraya Saenz, will head to Washington to discuss ways to resolve the Spanish banking crisis with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.
World financial markets have been see-sawing in recent days amid talk China may or may not give an extra stimulus to its economy. China, the world's second largest economy, growth was running near 9 percent last year.
The European Commission recommended today that Europe bring its banking system into closer union, so that stronger parts of the EU can help out weaker links without disrupting individual governments.
China and Japan move to trade each other's currencies directly, without using the U.S. dollar to set the exchange rate. The change is a new step toward a world where the dollar is not last word in global currencies.
As if Europe didn't have enough on its plate, it now faces a big drop in the price of one of its biggest exports, olive oil. Seventy percent of the world's olive oil supply comes from Spain, Greece and Italy.
This week New Zealand announced the price on cigarettes will rise by 40 percent over the next four years — to more than $15 U.S. a pack — as part of an effort to eliminate smoking in New Zealand completely by 2025.
People in northern Italy are still dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake this week that killed seven. It struck hardest in some of Italy's richest farmland and ten percent of the world's supply of Parmesan has been affected.
Although eurozone members want Greece to keep the euro, contingency plans are being made in case there is a parting of ways. The cost and wider economic effects of a possible Greek exit are highly uncertain.
