Moody’s rating agency downgrades Greece’s debt to junk. Moody’s rating agency has downgraded Greece’s credit rating further into junk territory over growing uncertainty about the country’s ability to make its debt payments. On Thursday, Moody’s slashed Athens’ rating to Caa2 from Caa1 and assigned it a “negative” outlook. The rating is just two steps away from the level signaling... 

The very same people that caused the last economic crisis have created a 278 TRILLION dollar derivatives time bomb that could go off at any moment. When this absolutely colossal bubble does implode, we are going to be faced with the worst economic crash in the history of the United States. During the last financial crisis, our politicians promised us that they would make sure that “too big to fail”... 

International rating agency Moody’s has downgraded the long-term issuer rating of Ukraine to the second lowest Ca grade from Caa3, leaving the outlook negative and a high possibility of the country’s imminent default. “Although negotiations over the specific details of the restructuring are only now getting underway, Moody’s believes that the likelihood of a distressed exchange, and... 

Village of Bobodol, near Knin, in central Croatia. Croatian government have gotten creditors on board a plan to erase the debts of some 60,000 poorest citizens. The “fresh start” scheme targets less than 1 percent of the entire debt, but is hoped to boost the economy in the long-term. The unorthodox measure was voted for by the government on January 15 and comes into force on Monday. To be eligible... 

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. Greece hasn’t outright asked Russia for a loan, but Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Moscow wouldn’t rule it out. His statement comes days after Greece openly opposed further economic sanctions against Russia. “Well, we can imagine any situation, so if such [a] petition is submitted to the Russian government, we will definitely consider... 

Howard Marks believes the plunge in oil prices may usher in a new era for investing in distressed debt. For more than three years, the billionaire investor and Oaktree Capital Group LLC (OAK) co-founder urged his deal makers to be cautious, warning of loose credit standards and high prices for distressed assets. That may change as the price of oil plummets, Marks said in a letter to clients yesterday. “With... 

I know that headline sounds completely outrageous. But it is actually true. The U.S. government is borrowing about 8 trillion dollars a year, and you are about to see the hard numbers that prove this. When discussing the national debt, most people tend to only focus on the amount that it increases each 12 months. And as I wrote about recently, the U.S. national debt has increased by more than a trillion... 

The idea that the Obama administration has the budget deficit under control is a complete and total lie. The idea that the Obama administration has the budget deficit under control is a complete and total lie. According to the U.S. Treasury, the federal government has officially run a deficit of 589 billion dollars for the first 11 months of fiscal year 2014. But this number is just for public consumption... 

The Argentinean Congress has adopted a new law enabling Buenos Aires to pay back the country’s debts to US creditors, sidestepping an earlier US court ruling in favor of the bondholders. On Thursday, the lower house of Argentina’s Congress unanimously voted in favor of the new debt restructuring plan which allows the government to make debt payments inside the country or elsewhere outside the... 

Argentina’s Economy Minister Axel Kicillof says his country is not in default amid an ongoing debt row with US hedge funds. Ratings agency Fitch declared Argentina in “restrictive default” on Thursday after Buenos Aires failed to clinch a deal with representatives from the funds. Kicillof, however, said his country has not defaulted and that the Argentinean government is open to agreements between... 

Argentina’s credit rating was downgraded to “selective default” by Standard & Poor’s as the South American country missed Wednesday’s deadline for a grace period during ongoing negotiations with holdout debt holders. Wednesday is the cutoff for Argentina to make good on a $539 million payment to bondholders, which was placed on hold by US judge Thomas P. Griesa’s order tying that payment... 

Russia has written down $32 billion of Cuba’s Soviet era debt. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the law ahead of his official visit to Latin America, with Havana as his first stop. The agreement was first signed in October 2013 and draws a line under a twenty-year dispute. Cuba is now required to pay back $3.2 billion over the next 10 years. The first payment from Cuba is expected in October,... 

European Union Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger The European Union (EU) has warned of winter gas shortages after Russia and Ukraine failed to reach an agreement over their price dispute. European Union Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger warned on Monday that the 28-nation bloc could face gas shortages during the coming winter after Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine earlier in the day... 

Russia has set a deadline for Kiev to pay part of its debt to Moscow or the flow of Russian gas to Ukraine will be halted. The acting Kiev government has until June 3 to pay part of its debt or face cuts in natural gas supplies from Russia. According to Russia’s Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller, with last month’s consumption included, Ukraine’s debt will rise to USD 5.2 billion by June 7. Russia has... 

Chilean artist Francisco Tapia Chilean activist and artist Francisco Tapia, also known as ‘Papas Fritas,’ has stolen and burnt $500 million worth of “pagares,” or debt papers. He then uploaded the video onto social media, claiming he had “freed” students by setting the papers alight. The artist made his claim in a video that went viral on May 12, where he says that debt owed to...