Italian Uncertainty Becomes Spanish Profit

The euro began the week at $1.30 on Monday morning following questionable comments about a possible Italian euro-exit made by a German politician on Thursday night. Rainer Bruderle from the German Free Democrats party made comments suggesting Italy could leave the euro on a talk show last week. His comments came in response to the inconclusive Italian election which showed the country's increasing opposition to the imposed austerity measures. Among other things, Bruederle claimed that Italy wasn't able to earn what they presume to spend, and that the country's high unemployment was a labor market reform problem, not the responsibility of Brussels. Many are expecting fallout from the talk show comments, as Italians have already expressed anger toward German politicians remarking on their economic problems. Following the show, many criticized Brunderle, saying that his irresponsible comments would keep him from winning any powerful political positions in the upcoming German elections. According to CNBC, a recent survey showed that the majority of Italians are in favor of keeping the euro and are against a referendum on their eurozone membership. After an inconclusive election nearly brought ex-comedian and leader of the anti-establishment 5-star movement Beppe Grillo to power on his promises to hold a referendum on membership, the nation has been on shaky ground. However Italy's turmoil has been Spain's profit as investors who pulled money from Italian investments have turned to Spain for a higher yielding investment. Spanish 3, 5 and 10 year bond auctions last week were met with a hefty appetite and sent the nation's 10 year yields to their lowest rate since January 2012.