Among the European exchanges, sentiment has soured this morning, both as US markets yesterday turned cautious and as rumors surrounding any prevention of a Greek exit or a bailout of Spain grow increasingly worrisome. Greece wants more time, but less conditionality; Spain is not certain it needs to make a formal request for a full-scale rescue at all. Germany would like to avoid doling out money without control of fiscal behavior. The issues are straightforward, but political minefields are explosive for all parties involved, and most experts expect that while headline reports may continue to move markets, little can be expected until September, when the troika return to evaluate Greece’s finances, Germany’s Constitutional Court rules on the ESM, and the European Commission meets, despite Chancellor Merkel’s statement calling for swift action to ameliorate the crisis, and asserting all members on board do so too. |