Ik heb Plasterk nog nooit zo beteuterd zien kijken naar de tv camera’s. Papandreou’s gok is ook uiterst curieus. Hoog spel is leuk maar dit is zelfmoord. Helaas trekt Griekenland Spanje en Portugal mee in zijn val.

1. Bank shares were among the worst hit. Barclays lost almost 10%, Royal Bank of Scotland 8% and Lloyds Banking Group more than 5% amid growing anxiety that a disorderly default by Greece on its debt could cause greater than expected losses for banks. Among the biggest fallers was French bank Société Générale, which already needs to find €3.3bn under last week’s European-wide stress tests. SocGen lost 17% and Italy’s Intesta Saopaolo fell 15%. US banks were also hard hit as the Dow Jones index fell as much as 300 points at one stage before closing 2.48% down.

2. The yields (interest rates) on Italian government bonds reached a new euro-era high of 6.33% although they fell back a little – remaining well above the painful 6% level – amid reports that the Greek referendum threatened by prime minister George Papandreou might be abandoned.

3. Draghi chairs his first meeting of the ECB on Thursday and faces calls for an interest rate cut, reversing rises earlier in the year when Europe’s central bank was concerned about inflationary pressures in the eurozone.

4. Krugman waarschuwt: Things are falling apart in Europe; the center is not holding. Papandreou is going to hold a referendum; the vote will be no. Italian 10-years at 6.29 at pixel time; that’s a level at which the cost of rolling over the existing debt will force a default, even though Italy has a primary surplus. And with everyone simultaneously pushing for fiscal austerity, a recession seems almost certain, aggravating all of the continent’s problems.

5. Sweder van Wijnberg spreekt in Nieuwsuur nog over problemen binnen de euro en niet van de euro, tenzij Italië valt. Dat laatste komt steeds dichterbij