Europe: Spain and fraud.

If you read the headlines, you would think that Spain is a land of fraud and corruption.

Chinese gang fraud;
Nigerian gang carries on lottery fraud ( I myself get letters of my winnings);
Ten Britons arrested for running a 'boiler room scam':
And five Brits arrested over missing VAT funds.
The alleged bank fraud at Bankia (the bank made up from bad banks);

Bankia has promoted fraud, embezzlement, price manipulation and falsifying accounts. No charges so far, but Finance Minister Guidos has been asked to testify.

The biggest stink covers the ruling party, the PP. Various officials are said to have collected bribes of 5-15,000 Euros/month.

There has been an uptick in bond yields in Europe. Ten year bond yields of Spain hit 6.44%, of Italy 4.45% and Portugal 6.42%. These yields have come down today to 5.37%, 4.44% and 6.42%. Economic performance is said to have stabilized.