Is Apple Worth More Than the Largest Banks in Europe

What if you were told that Apple (AAPL) is worth more than 32 of the largest banks in Europe? A new Reuters article states "Technology company Apple is now worth as much as the 32 biggest euro zone banks. That's the stark result from a steep fall in the share price of banks including Spain's Santander (STD), France's BNP Paribas, Germany's Deutsche Bank (DB) and Italy's Unicredit, compared to a steady rise in Apple's valuation, according to Thomson Reuters data. Earlier on Friday the DJ STOXX euro zone banks index fell 4 percent, valuing its 32...

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Eventually, French Spreads Fail (E.F.S.F.)

Everyone seems to be waking up to the record spread between French bonds and Bunds at the moment. Having risen in July, it’s reached another record eurozone high on Wednesday of 81bps. French yields are low but clearly the debt is under-performing.Is 100bps too far off?No — actually the more Italy and Spain worsen and therefore the guarantees they provide to the EFSF look dodgier (especially if it gets used to prop them up and they step out), the more France is sucked in. Divyang Shah of IFR Markets puts it really well:Italy and Spain have seen...

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5,700 Britons were arrested overseas last year,

5,700 Britons were arrested overseas last year, although the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said this was 10% fewer than 2009/10Drug arrests also fell by almost 20%, according to its new British Behaviour Abroad report.The highest number of arrests were in Spain and the United States. However, proportionally, tourists are most likely to be arrested in Thailand, according to the report.Drug arrests continue to be a significant problem for some countries, it said, particularly parts of South America and the Caribbean where a high proportion of total...

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