by Calculated Risk on 2/12/2010 09:31:00 PM

It looks like no bank failures this week, but there were renewed global concerns today:

Dubai: From the WSJ: Cost of Insuring Dubai's Debt Jumps

The cost of insuring Dubai's sovereign debt against default rose to its highest level since November as concerns resurfaced over the emirate's large debt. ... On Wednesday, the Al-Ittihad newspaper reported that Dubai World would this month ask creditors to freeze payments on 80 million dirhams ($21.8 million) of debt for six months, until its restructuring is complete.

China: From Bloomberg: China Raises Bank Reserve Requirement to Cool Economy

China ordered banks to set aside more deposits as reserves for the second time in a month to cool the fastest-growing economy after loan growth accelerated and property prices surged.

The reserve requirement will increase 50 basis points, or 0.5 percentage point, effective Feb. 25, the People’s Bank of China said on its Web site today. The current level is 16 percent for big banks and 14 percent for smaller ones.

Europe: From the NY Times: Growth in Europe Slows to a Crawl

The total gross domestic product increased by one-tenth of 1 percent in the 16-nation euro area during the fourth quarter, compared with a year earlier, according to an initial estimate from Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics agency. The same tepid rate was also recorded for the 27 members of the European Union as a whole.

Greece: See: Greece Still Slippery.

Also:

Retail Sales increased 0.5% in January

Inventory Cycle and GDP If you've been wondering about the inventory cycle and GDP, I tried to explain how it works (with a tie in to the Census Bureau's Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales report released today for December)

Best to all