The Washington Post reports that the Institute of International Finance will negotiate the value of the country’s bonds, which would come as a voluntary reduction, in order for the country to reverse its misfortunes.
The SPDR Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 ETF (NYSEArca: FEZ) is down 20% this year, while iShares MSCI EMU Index Fund (NYSEArca: EZU) has lost 18.5% over the past 12 months. CurrencyShares Euro Trust (NYSEArca: FXE) is up 1.7% over the same time period. [The Contrarian: Euro ETFs]
“In Europe, no lasting progress can be made on the debt issue until peripheral countries return to economic growth, and the medicine of ever more extreme austerity which has become the traditional ransom for further loans, continues to undermine prospects for these countries to generate the economic growth necessary to service the debt in the long run,” said David Kelly, chief market strategist at JP Morgan Funds.
Tisha Guerrero contributed to this article.
Read the disclaimer; Tom Lydon is a board member of funds of Rydex|SGI.