Soaring Italian Bond Yields Signal Next Leg of Crisis

Italian bond yields hit a record on Monday, signaling that the European debt crisis is entering its next phase. The spread between Italian bonds and German bunds reached as high as 491 basis points during today's trading session. Although yields have been widening in recent weeks, today's record highs have been driven by speculation that Silvio Berlusconi is going to resign. The Italian Prime Minister, however, wrote on his Facebook page that "the rumours of my resignation are groundless." The persistent rise in yields on Italian debt suggest that contagion is already spreading despite the EU's best efforts to secure Italian and Spanish bond markets, which are considered "too big to fail." If it becomes to expensive for Italy to borrow money, the likely outcome is a very deep recession throughout the European Union which could trigger a downturn in both the United States and China.