US Record High Home Sales as Japan Double Stimulus

Greece Economy to Shrink 25 percent

Greece is looking for various ways to meet the deficit target agreed with the troika. This includes selling of assets such as the Greek consulate in London. Greek minister continue to meet with potential lenders as they are seeking an extension on the current loan agreement.

Bank of England Minutes unanimous on rates

The BoE released their minutes ealier today and the overall interpretation going forward is that the central bank is ready to stimulate the economy as some members of the Committee expresesed their believed it will be needed sooner rather than later. The Committee voted 9–0 on keeping rates at 0.5%. Stimulus was agreed but there was a difference of opinion on when it would be needed, with one member opting to act immediately.

Spanish, Portuguese and Greek Banks have lost 326 billion euros in deposits in the last two months.

The main beneficiaries are the stronger economies of the euro zone which have seen almost matching increases from the troubled nations. Although the ECB has issues statements that it will fight for the euro and the nations who are currently facing bailout dilemmas, the investors would rather have strong goverments be liable for their deposits. This flight of capital is of course putting more pressure in the already hurting economies of Spain, Portugal, Greece and Ireland.

US existing homes 4.82 million

Sales of existing homes in the United States hit a two year high that suggest the real estate market has hit a turn around and could be a contributing factor to economic recovery. The 4.82 million homes translates into a 7.8% increase from a year ago. The final number was above the expected forecast of 4.50 million homes. Low mortgages, price cuts and limited supply of new homes are the main factors at play in the recovery of existing home sales.

BoJ eases policy by increasing its asset-buying proram urged by weaker exports.

Japan’s slowdown in exports coupled with a lower than expected growth pushed the Central Bank to increase the amount of assets it buys back. The program was doubled to 127 billion dollars. The current stimulus is nearly a fifth of the japanese economy.

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