by Calculated Risk on 1/13/2012 04:54:00 PM

As was widely rumored, Standard & Poor's lowered its long-term sovereign credit rating on France to AA+ and Spain to A.

From CNBC: S&P Downgrades Credit Ratings on Nine Euro Zone Nations, Including France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Austria

The Greek debt talks are more important. From Bloomberg: Greece Creditors Break Off Debt Talks

Greece’s creditor banks broke off talks after failing to agree with the government about how much money investors will lose by swapping their bonds, increasing the risk of the euro-area’s first sovereign default.

Proposals by a committee representing financial firms haven’t produced a “constructive consolidated response by all parties,” the Washington-based Institute of International Finance said in a statement today. Talks with Greece and the official sector are “paused for reflection on the benefits of a voluntary approach,” the group said.

A few of key dates this month:
Jan 20th: The "troika" discussions with Greece are set to conclude.
Jan 24th: EU finance ministers meet in Brussels.
Jan 30th: European Union leaders meet in Brussels on crisis.

Meanwhile the Italian 10 year yield is up to 6.64%, and the Spanish 10 year yield is up to 5.22%.