we saw moody's cut portugal, looking to cut portugal's credit rating. that's affecting things. we had a very bearish inventory report from the api last night. probably will see more of that at 10:30 from the department of energy. and we're going to see more pressure on the front of the curve as we see these inventories build and the financial fears build. rick, i'm sure it's a similar story over at the grid. >> it is. as a matter of fact, it's similar in some scary ways because we have foreign exchange and interest rates trading with the speed of commodities, as you were just talking about. you know, it's not only the images, it's not only the unrest, it's not only the politics and it's not only whether the eu will survive in its current form. you know, early this morning, moody's put portugal on review, on review for another possible downgrade to that aa-2 rating. that played into the contagion scenario. don't try to make sense of this from fundamentals. it now has a life of its own. we've seen the euro just plummeted to 128.5 right now. interest rates in the flight to safety

what about portugal? >> we did a debt sustainability study a few months ago. and if you rank countries in terms of vulnerability greece is the most vulnerable followed by portugal followed by spain, ireland, italy. portugal is pretty close to greece. when you get to spain, things are a little bit better. then when you get one step higher, things are a lot better. but we should recognize that there's serial contamination going on of different balance sheets and people are going to be looking to the eu and asking the question how do they feel about it. >> so what about the u.s.? i mean, should we be worried about the municipal debt in the united states, cities and states facing budget tightening? and does europe have a contagion in the united states? >> on your first question, maria, what's happening in greece tells you first and foremost debt and deficits matter. second, that be careful. it can happen very quickly. and thirdly, make sure that you have flexibility to respond. the u.s. thankfully is not where greece is, but we have to take these things seriously.

i'm actually heading to portugal tonight. maybe i'll call in and give you an update. >> i think you should do that. >>> we want to get on to market reaction here bob pisani joining us from the floor of the new york stock exchange. hi, bob. >> nobody in the uk has a mandate because nobody has explained the austerity measures that are coming. we're trading in lock step with the euro and the european markets. about $1.28 just as our markets were opening about 9:30 eastern time and as rallied and as we have seen a rally, our markets have stabilized. deutch bank, they all traded lock step this morning. they traded early as our markets started opening here. the rest of the market moved along with them. hard to describe how much these stocks have dropped. look at the one month of the deutch bank. they're down about 20%, that's a straight slide down essentially just in the last two and a half weeks or so. how about some of the retailers. retail sales out for april in just a day here and imagine trying to trade some of these. tjx they

becoming a portugal. becoming a spain. if the vote,send a message and send people to washington who will stop the spending and cut spending. and get our financial house in order, that this is the direction that we're moving in that could ultimately save the u.s. >> neil: you know what's fascinating about this? even in the case of senator bennett in utah. very conservative chap by almost all measures except when it came to voting for tarp and a couple of these bailouts. then he was persona nongrata even in his own party and this is a trend that we've seen again and again in this country outside this country. what's going on? >> well, if it is a trend it's a very dangerous and frightening trend because some of the bailouts were incredibly important. the auto company bailout was vital. the bailout of the big banks was vital and we got most if not all of the money back with a little bit of profit in some cases and the idea that all bailouts are bad is an extremely dangerous and foolish idea. and of course, the yidea that w all

the risk of contagion to portugal, announcing that the rising likelihood it will ultimately downgrade the credit rating. spain's prime minister might have dismissed as complete madness rumors he asked for outside cash. but it didn't stop madrid's stock market being hammered again today. now down over 12% in a month. and as ominously, the general cost of borrowing costs rise above europe, they remain under pressure. one potential bright spot for the markets, erin, ahead of tomorrow's general election in the uk, are the 24-hour campaigning bing, david cameron appears to be gaining slightly in the polls. the pound is under pressure that no one party will have the majority in the london parliament to order sufficient cuts for britain's ballooning deficit. and outright win tomorrow could see a big positive reaction in the markets. back to you. >> thanks very much to you, simon. a fair point with the elections going on, in britain and germany. we asked this question now, how do you trade what's going on in europe? there's a debt bomb explosion, obviously perhaps using bigger words than we s

moody's saying that they may, indeed, move on portugal's debt two notches. the risk of contagion spreading at this point with violence on the street in greece through the rest of europe, what is your take? >> southern europe, stay away from it as an investor. we are in a major test of the euro as a currency. >> do they both survive? >> in my view, yes. what a time to write a book about europe. we wrote the book a year ago and i didn't know anything about greece. if i did, i would have written the book differently. >> or changed the title. >> could you invest in germany? >> we're overweight in germany because we think when you have blood, i don't mean it literally, when you have turmoil and you have markets under durs, you have opportunity. the opportunity is in northern europe because the euro has 15% valuation against the u.s. dollar. a german machine tool manufacturer now exports to china, competes against the u.s. company, has a distinct price improvement in advantage and we think in northern europe we will see robust recovery. >> make the point there the

portugal is on review by moody's. shares in madrid fell more than two 2%. spain is seen as vulnerable. it is still in recession. senior officials have rushed to point out that spain and portugal had nothing to do with greece. just a little earlier, our business correspondent explained what is driving these market falls. >> what we are seeing is fear driving investors. there is no doubt about that. there is concern as bailout has taken too long to come about -- to come about. greece does not yet have the money. there are also concerns that if greece -- if and when greece does it the money, can they do the things that are being required of it? candy, in other words, increase taxes -- can it they, in other words, increase taxes and other draconian measures? what is the future for greece? are we looking at the situation in countries like argentina? that is the worst-case scenario investors are looking at. and you add to that, what could happen beyond? what would happen in countries that have high problems of debt levels? that is where you get the contagion of f

fears of contagion to countries like spain and portugal caused a major selloff of european and u.s.cks. joining me to make sense of all of this, martin wolfe of "the financial times," his column in today's paper takes a look at greece's bailout. i am pleased once again to have him back at this table. welcome. >> pleasure to be here. >> charlie: i take, now, the first paragraph of what you said in today, may 5. desperate times, desperate measures, after months of costly delay the euro-zone has come up with massive support for greece by bringing in the international monetary fund at germany's behest it has obtained additional resources and a better program but is it going to work? alas, mr. wolf says, "i have huge doubts." so waif it doesn't work? >>ed the good thing about it at least as far as greece is concerned it kicks the can down the road, gives them money, quite a lot of money which will cover their borrowing requirements for between two and three years. that leaves them out of the markets so they can keep going. meanwhile, the european central bank has promised to refinance th

italy down 1.5% and portugal down 2.5%. we are seeing a greater degree of selling in those markets where there is more focus on the debt problems, christine. >> speaking of selling, we have selling here in asia, as well. trade was thin with japan. korea was closed today to mark respective holidays. elsewhere, much of the action happened in greater china. shanghai managed to recoup heavy losses to close higher 0.8%. banks were the key focus, lots of fund-raising exercises. the hang seng is down 2.1%. kirby mentioned risk aversion. this particular market seeing risk aversion. sellers really selling out of the positions. the australian market continues to push lower, 1.3% and the bombay sense sex trading down 1. %. the indonesian markets getting rapid today. composite is down 2.8% on news that the finance minister has tendered her resignation after being tapped to become managing director at the world bank. so the market is not liking the views at all. how is all this impacting the ftse cnbc global 300 index. let's check it ou

the credit ratings agency moody's has put portugal's bond rating on review. portuguese stocks and bonds have slumped. shares in madrid fell more than 2% on top of tuesday's 5% slump. spain is seen as vulnerable, still in recession. european union officials must point out that spain and portugal have absolutely nothing to do with grease. with me in the studio is our business correspondent. help us understand what is happening on the market. is this effectively concluding that greece is already a basket case, that it cannot do what it has agreed to do, and sooner or later with the fall? if so, what are the implications about it? >> what we're seeing at the moment is fears are driving investors. there is no doubt about that. they're concerned firstly that the bailout has taken too long to come about, and there are still hurdles to be gone through before it is actually enacted, greece is not yet have the money. there are also concerns that if and when greece gets the money, can it do the things being required of it? can it, in other words, increased taxes and bri

you've got portugal. ireland.that, you know, this was maybe a band-aid on a very large situation that, you know, to me, especially with, you know, some of the reactions you're seeing in greece, doesn't appear to be, you know, moving towards a proper resolution for the markets. >> there's this metaphor, but there are two new contestants, gold and str. we'll see how they do in that contest. >> jim, some of the craziest viewers i know send me stuff that i think is from you. i'm just wondering if it's the same jim rickards. are you a theory conspirist? are those the mightinones that ? >> i was asked to respond specifically. i'm a lawyer also and i was shown correspondence from the antitrust division of the justice department, someone writing in about jpmorgan manipulation in the silver comment. my comment was it was an unusual communication. the justice department, instead of saying thanks for your letter, they said, we're looking into the jpmorgan alleged actions. they went on to say we're not going to refer it to th

so when it comes to greece, when it comes to portugal, when it comes to spain, countries whose economieshey haven't -- they haven't played by the same kind of rules as say, france and germany. it is a little bit like greece was the subprime borrower, such as we know here in the u.s., and the banks over in europe are getting nervous that that subprime borrower, greece is essentially going to walk away from the mortgage that they owe the bank. and so that's essentially the root of the problem. and so it has created this drying up of the market where it is getting expensive for greece, pour portugal, for spain, for italy, the so-called piigs, to go to the banks and get money to finance all their debt. that's really the crux of the problem, and that's threatening things here because investors are now getting very, very worried and they're starting to really be -- taking -- taking an aversion here to risk. now, i do want to point out, lester, there is a little bit of a silver lining here for the u.s. in the way of perhaps lower oil prices. so that could be some good news. >> good news especia

will it be prepared to fund a rescue plan for spain or portugal. does that mean the country are off on their own at the moment without the backing of the euro zone or will the ecb and all about having an impact on the euro today. you have been mentioning 1.3040 is where we're trading at the moment. there's a lot of options activity just below that level. let me just quickly show you the banks. ubs out with good numbers and big exposure to greece out tomorrow down to 5.7%. guys, back over to you. >>> indices here in the united states, of course, following europe. did a little better after europe started to close. the question is, whether or not this is the beginning of what some are calling for that 10% or 15% correction.ç let's talk about that and take a look at the volatility right now in this market. we're watching the vix index very closely. it's up almost 21% at 24.38, the last trade on that particular index. let's talk to our insiders and find out how perhaps you can protect your portfolio. drew canali and jeff carter independent trader and b

so portugal doesn't quite look like greece but there's a resemblance. spain has been fiscally responsible but they're in trouble because their costs and prices are out of line. so it starts to call the whole structure into question. i don't think it's a sovereign debt issue by the way generally. if you look at what happened to bond markets today, u.s. interest rates drops. british interest rates dropped. this is a euro zone problem but unfortunately the euro zone is a big player in the world economy. >> brown: but bring it back to us, then, and start with you robert barbera. how does that affect... some people talk about if you want to continue the snowballing effect it calls into question our own potential long-term debt. is that what we're worried about? >> no. i hear a lot of that and i just find it... it's fanciful that you can get from the greek situation to our bond market and worry about our fiscal situation. i also have one of the more optimistic outlooks on the u.s. economy and i've been very happy with the numbers that have come out year to da

specifically, spain and portugal. what do you think of the dangers of that? >> i think that's less of a problem at least for now. the economic fundamentals in both portugal and spain are not nearly as bad. moreover, the european central bank has taken a big step. it's been willing to now buy greek financial paper pretty much like the fed bought mortgage-backed securities here in the united states, essentially taking care of any liquidity problem that the countries might have. with that done for greece, it clearly would be done for portugal and spain as well, i think that avoids the risk of any significant spillover at least for now. >> reporter: what about the impact on the u.s. of this greek bailout? to what degree does the success or failure of this greek bailout have an effect on our economy? >> it has two or three effects. greece is too small as a share of the european economy -- only about 2% -- to have much effect via growth. were europe's growth is already modest, but this won't make it much worse. i don't think that will hurt us in any significant way

otros resultados, portugal con cabo verde empataron 0-0, corea del sur derroto 2-0 a japon, australianueva zelanda y sudafrica con bulgaria empataron 1-1. el fin de semana el inter de milan de la mano de diego milito derroto 2-0 al bayern munich y se quedo con la champions league, tenemos imagenes y al goleador. recuerde visitar nuestra pagina www.univisiondc.com para inscribirse en el torneo futbito de mesa junto a pollo campero. los participantes deben ser mayores de 12 aÑos... (on cam) (paco) para finalizar univision washington siempre regalando y esta vez para el gran concierto de cahyanne en el patriot center el 25 de junio ...solamente tienen que visitar nuestra pagina www. univisiondc.com e inscribirse ...busque el formulario en nuestra pagina principal y pendientes que el sorteo lo estaremos realizando este viernes 28 en nuestro segmento de entretenimiento a las 11....... estuvo feliz rodeada de familiares. >> sabemos que se la pasÓ muy bien.

this will be a tough one to put back in the bottle and the loss of confidence will deteriorate portugal and spain in the eyes of credit market investors. >> bob pisani, i'll come back to you. this is maybe a stupid question but was there any nongreece, nonspain discussion on the floor of the exchange from other issues? >> sure. factory orders are improving and we're waitg for retail sales out on thursday. we saw ann taylor saying their sales were well above expectations. they're expecting their earnings to be substantially above expectations. so fairly good things for april retail sales. and remember, that doesn't qulu what was going on with easter. that was mostly in march.economic news has been definitely marching in favor of the bulls. but right now, i think rick's right, this contagion issue. i agree with what you're saying on greece and spain. if you look at spain, 55% of their debt is related to their gdp. >> greece is going 150%. >> 125% right now. and we're 85%. so it doesn't make sense from a fundamental point of view why spain would be under this kind of pressure. >> spain has

. >> portugal. you hear about the pigs.if you've heard that term, tony, but whether or not portugal could be a problem, italy, ireland. >> spain. >> greece, obviously and spain, right? >> yeah. >> portugal has been put on the standby for another credit rating downgrade and if that's happening it will make it harder and more expensive for portugal to borrow money and they could be in the same situation and this could be another credit crisis that could spread through the eu. there are 16 count threes share the same currency and greece is one of them. >> i guess i'm one of the people who believes that we need to pay close attention to what's happening in greece right now, particularly with the cuts that are being made by the government because we're talking here in the united states about reducing the budget deficit. look, we're going to have to make very hard choices here as well, aren't we? >> oh, yeah. definitely. i think it's more severe the way they're looking at that time in greece right now. the situation that they're

global fears that the european union might not have anything left to bail out struggling spain or portugal if they should falter down the road. that sent the euro tumbling to its lowest point zbefrts the dollar in a year and fueling stock losses across the board. alcoa and caterpillar slid. bank of america lost nearly 3%. meanwhile investors ignored positive data, a rise in march factory orderers and a five-month high in home sails. >>> the commodity prices hit hard. it slipped to settle under $83 a barrel. >>> on the upside better than expected earnings from drugmakers pfizer and merck. >>> nissan is recalling more than 130,000 infinity g 35 to prevent the air bag from deploying. they're recalling coupes and 05-06 sedans. >>> bud light will soon be the official beer of the nfl again. a deal with anheuser-busch inbev is set. the league's official brew since 2001. >>> keep an eye on news corp. shares were up in late trade after the media giant posted upbeat earnings thanks to avatar's box office success and improving ad sales. >>> and finally a new pole finds that sen tty nurrians are text

staying inside the church not outside, but it was a successful trip to portugal and he was greeted very warmly there by very big crowds, but this thing could change things totally if the vatican is brought into these trials, certainly, they've-- the lawyers have not been successful with this in the past, but if they are now, it changes the ball game completely. juliet. >> greg burke in rome. thank you, greg. it's not your typical succession plan by any means, after all the people now being replaced formally had huge bulls eyes on their backs and al-qaeda in iraq now naming two leaders to head the terror networks. previously leaders were killed in a joint u.s.-iraqi raid and concerns about the iraqi security situation loom large. dominique di-natale, excuse me, updates us from baghdad. >> the al-qaeda has capped off the crown of the new leadership, here in iraq, affiliate better known as the islamic state of iraq. appointed amir or chief and also given him a first minister to act as his deputy. the man being named as al-- and awe bu al hasanni, the same last name and doesn't mean they're

portugal. the pope greeting the faithful in a northern town during a ride in a pope mobile.e benedict then held mass in front of city hall urging the crowd to spread the faith. we're told people gave the pope two high tech gifts during the visit and electronic t-shirt and a light weight carbon fiber guitar. india. a truck running over some snapped high voltage power lines in the north. it caused a spark that turned into a fire because the vehicle was hauling coal. police say they took the driver and a passenger to the hospital. united kingdom. just released surveillance video showing a man overpowering a would-be thief in a betting office in leads. police say the crook was waving around a gun and it already forced a cashier to hand over some money. that's when a good samaritan took over. take a look here. the guy knocks down the robber with a chair. we're told he then took away the gun and held the thief until the cops showed up. a judge awarded the man a few hundred dollars for the deed. south korea. police, firefighters, and members of the military holding disaster prevent

second it's the endless drum beat of concerns in europe, worries about portugal, worries about spain. they've created an entire cottage industry of sellers who are now afraid of france, holland, germany. hey, why don't we throw in luxembourg? how about the azores? scotland. good scotch. switzerland. monaco. where prince albert's in a can and they'd better let him out. with the potential sovereign debt downgrade in spain, zapatero, the country's prime minister, has replaced zorro as the nemesis of the establishment. and we're all acting like sergeant garcia! there. anyway. i say viva zapatero. a darn good movie. it still holds up. although not as good as brando's work in "one eyed jacks." then there's the mining tax in australia. oh, man, is that ever scary. they might as well tax hedge funds given how many managers own these australian natural resource companies. fourth item on the buffet, the decline in the price of oil. back to where it was causing -- >> sell sell sell sell. >> -- a repeal of that sector's parabolic move, which is serious given the fact the group makes up 12% of the

greece, spain, portugal, italy, how are they going to affect u.s. companies? and to what extent our investors already pricing that word in today? well, they've definitely, they've been in the process of pricing it in in the last month. it's a deflationary even. just like 2008 was with u.s. banks. so that really all can impact all assets, all risk assets very negatively. that's what's happening. i think, if europe doesn't provide a stimulus package, the in the prices are not reflecting having gone low enough. i think they will come in. politicians don't like to be voted out of office. they don't like people running around the streets. i think they will come out with a stimulus package. and if they do, you will see the market turnaround and rally very hard. very sharply. so on a scale of one to 10, just how bullish are you right now? what stocks are already seeing such a sell-off? i would say i am an 8. ok, michael morcos of old second national bank. thank you very much. and straight ahead on the show.... paul eggers and i tackle viewer mail. that's coming uthe

which has problems not as serious as greece or portugal, and ireland has very serious problems.ey get into these problems, not only do they bring that nation down but they potentially bring a lot of other countries with them. it certainly affects the value of the euro. that's a problem for the world. if the euro and europe isn't strong and robust, they're a place where we sell a lot of goods, they're a place that's one of the critical economic engines of the world along with, o of course, ourselves and asia, china, india. we can't afford to have a europe that's basically imploding on itself over the issue of sovereign debt because the countries have overextended themselves and they can't figure out a way to get out from underneath it. >> here at home -- >> i'm sorry. you might also want to note, andrea, the united states is on this same path. >> i was going to ask you that. >> we're five to seven years from where greece is. >> could we get into this kind of bind ourselves? >> absolutely. there's no question about it. our national debt is going to double in five years, it's going

how worried are you about portugal and spain, for instance?nnounced this morning by the european authorities that spain and portugal will be announcing new economic stabilization measures in the coming days. and hopefully these measures will be adequate to the challenges to reduce debt to make-- to improve the competitiveness of these economies and to improve their prospects going forward. >> ifill: tell me if it possible to even ask this final question, which is whether it is possible that extending more credit can help countries whose basic problem is their debt load. >> oh, for sure. the bedrock of the reforms in the euro area, remember the goal of currency union is to form a stronger, more effective and efficient economy. the bedrock is going to be the fiscal or the reduction of deficits, ultimately the reduction of debt as a percentage of the overall economies, and improvement in the structural performance and the efficiency of these economies. these will depend more than anything on the actions of each individual country. but now there i

spain, portugal, ireland have to fail, so they're going to fail?ourse, this is one of the reasons why the greece's euro group partners and the i.m.f., presumably when it acts officially, is willing to support this program, in large part because ofÑi the willingness of theÑi greek authorities, their desire to make this adjustment.ó[ but also to show them the rest of the euro zone and elsewhere, that action is possible and help restore confidence. now remember, more broadly, in the wake of the global crisis, 2008 and 2009, we have said in 2011 and beyond there is going to be a general need for fiscal adjustment around the world, especially in the advanced economies, including in greece's european partners. so there will be a need for measures elsewhere. the greek action will help to give investors confidence that governmewhat is necessary. >> greece seems like it is far away, and a small country. but what does it mean for the united states? why is this becoming aç world-wide event, and why is it affecting the united states, and what does it mean fo

today on fears europe's attempt to solve greece's debt crisis will fail, spreading to spain and portugalgreek workers went on strike today, to protest the steep spending cuts and higher taxes that will come with the $145 billion bailout package there. >>> markets were closed in japan for a holiday again today. but hong kong's hang seng is down sharply. and in london, the ftse opened lower. on wall street, the dow suffered its worst drop in three months, tumbling 225 points yesterday. the nasdaq plummeted almost 75 points. >>> most signs point to our economy improveling. but there are still millions of americans out of work. and it is likely to stay that way for a while. a new survey finds eight in ten people who lost their jobs during the recession, are still unemployed. 70% have now been looking for work for more than seven months. and some have just given up. >> older people have opted out of the labor force, much more than younger people. so, there are 17% of those who are over 50, who have stopped looking for a job. and most of them, because they were discouraged. one of the things w

portugal, and even the u.k., the credit defaults swaps have jumped significantly today. i think that that's what's happening is it's not just going to be greece. who's going to be next? could it be spain? i think it's a great example of how our imagination is our own worst enemy. ok, and you think this is gonna turn out to be a bigger sell-off and equities then it is right now? well because we've come so high, so fast. had we slowly but surely built up this equity rally, which is stemming back to earlier last year, maybe not. but, because we've done so much work, so quickly in percentage terms. we do have a little bit of a chance here for a decent break. but it's not gonna be the beginning of the end again. ok, thank you very much. the question of "jail time" for wall street executives who commit fraud is being raised in the senate. fines are the usual punishment for white collar crimes in the financial industry-- but now senators are thinking about kicking it up a notch. lawmakers could vote on an amendment as they debate financial reform. at hearing tuesday-- the direc

take a look at pictures if greece, spain and portugal where people are rioting because of the basketeconomy of the entitlement states. both parties are to blame here and a lot of spending that the g.o.p. is arguing against they committed eight years ago. spending and entitlement spending will kill the economy as it's killed the european economies and that's why it needs to stop here and now. >> cheryl: these are big ticket items we're talking about here. talking about extending unemployment, it's at it 99 weeks. it's big ticket stuff to push through in a short amount of time. >> again, as you point out, money for the troops in afghanistan and money for doctors on medicaid/medicare and money for unemployment benefits, all things the republicans historically support and they should support. the idea here is while you want to be able to pay for the programs, everybody would agree with that. when you have economic downturn, you don't do that and you go in the deficit spending because you want to pump money in the economy. the best way to pay for these things to get us back to positive ec

moody's today said it might cut portugal's debt rating. >> tom: the clashes and concern about european i.o.u.s have pushed the euro to its lowest level in 14 months against the dollar. rebecca patterson is the global head of currencies and commodities at j.p. morgan private bank. welcome to "nightly business report". >> thank you. >> tom: we saw that significant drop in the euro versus the dollar. where do we go from here? >> well, unfortunately, i think the euro weakness is far from over. we are looking at a longer term fair value for the euro, somewhere between 115 and 120. so even though the euro has fallen a long way from out november high around 151, we think it's still headed lower. >> tom: that's another significant drop from where we are tonight. do you see volatility or a slow and steady drop in the euro? >> well, volatility in the short term, yes. but careful how we phrase that. in the short term i think a lot of bad news is priced in, i think a lot of investors out there are already short the euro. so i wouldn't be surprised if we see volatility in both directions, i. e. the

helped, it could drag down the entire european union, bringing down the already fragile economies of portugal, spain and italy with it. >> the fear is a domino effect not only across europe but into the united states. if europe goes down, it's going to affect our economy as well. >> reporter: in fact, it already has. with greece's troubles, the dow has dropped 338 points in just the last week and a half, affecting 401(k)s in this country. a loss of about $3,000 for the average investor in the u.s. it's a big loss in a week and a half. and in a sign of how desperate greece is, it's now turning to those google earth images, we've seen them. they are looking at the wealthy suburbs. and here is what is intriguing. the blum there, that's pools. they are looking for. in one suburb, only 300 pools on the books, but yet there were r. >> they are going to google earth to find the pools too tax the people who are dodging the taxes? >> reporter: they have hired engineers to camouflage to pooms to hide it from the satellite. >> while the rest of us bite our nails about the world economy. thank you, david

if greece can't get its financial act together then other countries with huge debts like spain, portugal and ireland could be next. could need bailouts, too, which might trigger another european, possibly global, financial crisis. >> the debt is rising very, very rapidly. they have little prospect of economic growth. so if you look ahead of a few years, not where we are now, if something doesn't change, they could also be in very serious trouble. >> reporter: the pain is confined to greece for now, but investors the world over are jittery. wondering if the debt crisis will spread. dawna friesen, nbc news, london. >>> the chaos in greece and worries about spillover hit wall street again today. the dow was down almost 59 points. >>> in texas tonight, there's been a mafs explosion and fire at a san antonio fuel refinery. it happens when an 18-wheeler exploded, sparking the larger fire, which is now under control. two people have been injured, including a truck driver seriously burned. >>> a big name on capitol hill announcing his retirement today. david obey, democrat from wisconsin, chairm

unless spain and portugal can grow, it will not work. host: we are taking your calls. minnesota, democrats line. caller: good morning and thanks for taking my call. is the imf, who finds it? -- funds it? >> it is funded by countries around the world. it is like a credit union. each of these countries put in money. the amount of money depends on the size. the u.s. is the world's biggest economy, so it puts in the most amount of money, about 17%. every country, europe, china, brazil, europe, everyone contributes. that money is lent out to countries that are in trouble like it is now doing to greece. host: florida, republican line. caller: the united states help the economies of germany and japan and china's development with engineering and technology. in detroit, homeless shelters are full. what are we talking about financial monetary investments? -- why isere's not there so much talk about the stock market and debt? show more concern for citizens here such as hitting clean water and other things for citizens here? guest: in order to be able to make all those investments

about greece because it shows, just last week with the stock market reaction to greece, perhaps portugal, perhaps spain, it shows that we are in a global economy and there's concern about what would happen in europe in general if these three countries or others start having these difficulties. i don't think it's going to bring us down for any long period of time. period of time. we have our own resilience. and it's starting to show coming back our way. as far as the oil spill is concerned, i think it's a valid issue in terms of the actual impact on the states and the businesses in those states. i think it's a valid issue in terms of energy in the future, terms of energy in the future, how much do we want to rely on offshore and deep water drilling, and what kind of precautions and safety do we have. but i don't think that this spill in and of itself is going to interrupt energy supplies like a war in the middle east, for example. and i don't think it's going to have a long-term negative impact on the overall nation nalcomme. >> do you think as the bp manages this spill, effectively caps

it is possible that spain, italy, and portugal are in the same bu. oat. if they cannot pay their debts and they get huge bailout, it is possible that one of them will say it is not worth it and we will default. or it is possible that they will put up with the kinds of cuts that would cause huge protests in the u.s. as well. to fight that, you have won a series of austerity measures after another. there's no demand in the markets, so the economy's tank. host: wesley on the line for republdemocrats. caller: i have been watching the stock market. we have a two-party system here. for the life of me, i cannot understand how you can have a party that claims they love this country -- everything that this government -- the house was burning down and they tried to put out the fire. instead of the same government that was in power previous -- take this country to the tank. you have a president that is so intelligent and smart and put together an administration that is taking this country internationally an internal recognition, and yet the american people cannot se

he spoke en route to portugal, and blamed the church's own sins for what has happened. >> attacks against the pope and the church not only come from outside. but that the suffering of the church should come from internally, from the sins that exist in the church. i see this as truly terrifyinging. the greatest persecution of the church doesn't come from enemies on the outside but is born from sins within the church. the church needs to profoundly relearn penitentiary nens, accept purification and learn forgiveness but also justice. >> lehrer: the pope's remarks followed a surge in reports of abuse by priests in europe. special correspondent saul gonzalez reports on the fallout from those scandals in ireland. >> reporter: at a pub in north dublin, far from the city's tourist haunts, regulars gathered to drinks pints and talk about everything from rugby to politics. as in the rest of ireland there's also a lot of discussion about the country's clerical sex abuse scandals and what should be done with pedophile priests. >> they should all be hung. >> reporter: many here have their own stories

ireland, italy, portugal, and spain. -- would spread to ireland, italy, portugal, and spain. after use -- after years of reckless spending, the greek government must slash spending. there is another country whose government budget deficit and debt could readi reached alarming levels found in europe. unfortunately for the american people, that country is the united states. according to our own congressional budget office, the federal budget deficit will be over 10% of gdp this year and the publicly held federal debt will be 6.2% by the end of fiscal year 2010. if the congress adopts obama's budget, the budget deficit will exceed 4% of the fiscal year during the nt decade and a drill it held public debt will be 9% of our economy. president obama -- they are following fiscal policy that is clearly unsustainable. reverse,t is quickly resol the u.s. could find its own deb crisis. unlike degrees, there will be no one to bail us out. >> thank you very much for holding this important hearing. like congressman raheem devaughn, i am also concerned about the debt. that is why i am a str

and those people who are betting that greece will fail have enough economic power to deny greece, portugal, spain loans at commercial rates. that's why the european union has got to flood in taxpayer dollars from those countries to save greece and soon they may have to do it for spain and portugal, too. host: san antonio, mike on the democratic line. you're on the air. caller: thank you. thanks for c-span. i have a comment and a question. my comment is i think the people making all the money off of these scams knew exactly what was going on, because it doesn't seem that complicated to me, and my question is, when these people count their losses from the defaults on these loans, are they counting out, like, if you borrow 30 grand for a house and you pay it back in 30 years you pay back 150 grand. do these people count when someone defaults on a $30,000 loan, do they count that they have lost $120,000 in equity? guest: all i can tell you is when we gave money to a.i.g. to bail a.i.g. out, that money went in the front door of a.i.g., $160 to $180 billion and out the back door to people who i