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To paraphrase the old saying about the key to a restaurant’s success, Germany’s top priority in maintaining a strong currency is inflation, inflation, inflation. It is commonplace to say that Germany as a nation was traumatized by the hyperinflation

Industrial production in the euro zone fell at its sharpest quarterly rate in more than three years at the end of last year, despite rising in December, stoking fears of a third consecutive quarterly economic contraction. But data released on

Britain's leading retail banks are still failing a quarter of their customers when advising them on investment products, financial regulators said Wednesday. Despite years of investigations, billions of pounds in compensation for past scandals and

European Union leaders prepared the first-ever cuts in the bloc’s budget, bowing to U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron’s insistence on thrift. After an all-night bargaining session interspersed with catnaps on couches at EU headquarters in Brussels

The trade deficit in the U.S. narrowed more than forecast in December, led by record exports of petroleum that gave the world’s largest economy a boost at the end of 2012. The gap shrank 20.7 percent to $38.5 billion, lower than any estimate in a

British lawmakers praised Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney after four hours of testimony to probe his suitability to be the next head of the U.K. central bank. Treasury Committee Chairman Andrew Tyrie, from the ruling Conservative Party, paid

Gold may be the most controversial asset class in the global financial markets. However, many of the conditions that were bullish for gold in the past are looking bullish today. US Funds Frank Holmes, an expert on commodities, recently presented a

China surpassed the U.S. to become the world’s biggest trading nation last year as measured by the sum of exports and imports, ending the U.S. supremacy in global commerce that emerged after the end of World War II in 1945. U.S. exports and imports

These last few days notwithstanding, markets have really been on an incredible tear. So what are real investors thinking? Nomura's interest rate strategist George Goncalves has a great weekend note out in which he relays some observations from

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul R. La Monica. Other than Time Warner, the parent of CNNMoney, Abbott Laboratories and AbbVie, La Monica does not own positions in any individual stocks. I realize that Groundhog Day

Record high unemployment and falling inflation mean the European Central Bank (ECB) has scope to lower interest rates still further in order to weaken the spiraling euro, ING Senior Economist Carsten Brzeski, said. "Past experience has shown the ECB

Here's what you need to know : Asian markets were higher in overnight trading, with the Japanese Nikkei advancing 3.7 percent, the Shanghai Composite up 0.1 percent, and the Hang Seng up 0.5 percent. European markets are in the red with the exception

Mario Draghi may soon find that "positive contagion" isn't a permanent cure The European Central Bank president coined the phrase last month to describe the healing in financial markets since he signaled, last summer, that the ECB would do "whatever

Mario Draghi faces a grilling over the European Central Bank's sensitivity to the euro's sharp rise and his connection to an Italian banking scandal at an ECB meeting on Thursday where interest rates are almost certain to be unchanged. Ireland is on

The future governor of the Bank of England (BoE), Mark Carney, has been forced to defend his pay arrangements to members of the House of Commons' Treasury Committee. Mr Carney, who is currently the governor of the Bank of Canada, will be paid a total

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee today voted to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5%. The Committee also voted to maintain the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank

7 February 2013 - Monetary policy decisions At today’s meeting the Governing Council of the ECB decided that the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will

The European Central Bank will monitor the impact of a strengthening euro on the currency bloc's economy but said it was not a policy target and showed growing confidence in the region. After the ECB left its main interest rate at 0.75 percent on

* ECB's Draghi says will monitor impact of rising euro * Euro drops sharply versus dollar, yen * U.S., European shares fall, Irish yields at multi-year lows Major stock markets fell on Thursday and the euro hit a near two-week low against the dollar

Manufacturing in the U.S. expanded more than forecast in January, reaching a nine-month high and showing the industry is starting to improve. The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index climbed to 53.1 last month from December’s 50.2