Europe badly needs some good news to reverse the recent negative outlook revisions. Reports over the past few weeks have been rather bearish. The European Commission and lately the European Central Bank have downgraded their growth forecasts for the whole eurozone over the next two years. The Italian election results have made it even harder to govern the country for the coming weeks and months, which is likely to further discourage consumption and investment. The Cyprus bailout plan may lead to renewed contagion in peripheral countries.

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