The media are having a field day with the date of 11.11.11 and its implications worldwide. Astrologers are also churning out the bucks in explaining to the worried masses that the world might undergo some negative events due to the presence of some planets aligning with each other. End of the World! It sounds frightening only in our idiot boxes and not in our minds. In fact, we are used to such fallacies. Remember Y2K and its supposed implications. What happened were just a fear of the unthinkable and not the rationality of our thoughts. The news channels, due to the dearth of breaking news, (I wonder why, given the importance of events in Greece and Italy), are utilizing such events to enhance their viewers or in their terminology, Television Rating Points (TRP). The media channels will continue such malpractices and the world will keep moving. Let’s turn our attention to more important events.

The political fiasco in Italy will garner immense interest for the markets in what could be an otherwise quiet day, with the US bond market closed for Veterans Day. The markets could close out on a relatively calmer note for the weekend if Italy continues to show progress in replacing the current PM. Analysts have confirmed that the financial markets were relatively calmer on Thursday after Wednesday’s violent selling, as Italy moved forward towards a change in the leadership. Lucas Papademos, a former European Central Bank vice president, was named to head the debt-ridden Greek nation.

Yesterday, however, was not without its Europe-focused drama. The spread between French and German bonds rose to a record wide level, after rumors spread of a possible downgrading of the French credit rating. S&P reaffirmed the country’s AAA rating with a stable outlook, in reaction to the speculation which seemed to have started from a technical issue with its website that led some investors to believe that S&P was supposedly going to change the rating. The Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday, in a speech at Fort Bliss, added fuel to the bond market speculation that the Fed could consider a third edition of the QE in coming months.