14,700 Americans disclose offshore accounts; how will Swiss markets react?
IRS v UBS

As of yesterday's deadline, it looks like US citizens decided that keeping a numbered account in a private bank is more scary than paying taxes. Switzerland's economy is highly dependent on financial services, and an estimated one-third of all offshore accounts are held there. Sounds like doom for the Swiss Market Index (SMI), right?

No Slave To Fashion
It's the lack of monetary enforcement that will likely save Europe from overspending.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet has proven throughout this financial crisis that he is his own man when it comes to navigating the euro-land banking system through the deflation and debt deleveraging storm. And will likely save Europe from overspending.

Russian Stocks: Is the Ugly Year Finally Over?

Germany's DAX: FREE Insight Into Europe's Leading Economy

Deflation: Why Are Central Banks Failing?
In the battle of inflation and deflation, deflation still has the upper hand.

Most conventional economists vigorously dismissed the very idea of deflation just a couple of years ago, but now it' a global reality. Just like the Federal Reserve Bank here in the U.S., overseas central banks have used the "quantitative easing" policy to stop deflation. And just like in the U.S., something is not quite working. Why?

Europe: Will a Record Fiscal "Injection" Save the Stock Market?
"You can’t tell the market what you will or won’t accept. It tells you."

The European Central Bank made a record "liquidity injection" into Europe's money markets this week. Will it help turn things around? Before you say yes, read this insightful comment by Robert Prechter, EWI's founder and president.

European Stocks: Putting Elliott to Work
A good example of how stocks transition from sideways to impulsive trends.

"My experience is that when people are first exposed to the Elliott Wave Principle, they want to know when 5th waves are about to end. But after some experience, the information that becomes most useful is 'show me when a wave 2 is ending' -- because that’s the point right before strong and trending 3rd waves start."

European Stocks: Think of Elliott Waves as a Map

How Elliott Wave Analysis Helps You Find Opportunities

European Stocks: "You Are Here"
Having perspective can greatly reduce the stress of your investment decisions.

Europe: Deflation is a Global Story (Part II)
Bear markets have a way of making the impossible possible – and fast.

This is part two of my interview with Brian Whitmer, the new editor of Elliott Wave International’s monthly European Financial Forecast. Here, Brian talks about Europe's "hidden" markets and gives tips on how to trade overseas if you are a U.S.-based investor. He also explains why he thinks the integrity of the European Union will be tested in this bear market.

Europe: Deflation is a Global Story (Part I)
This is Part I of an interview with EWI’s new European editor.

European Stocks: How Much More of the "Downside Fireworks"?

In early 2008, European stocks, especially those in Eastern Europe, were investors' darlings, "shelters from the storm." Well, try finding someone who thinks so now. And, says the European Financial Forecast editor Brian Whitmer in the new, March issue, judging by the "incomplete structure" of Elliott wave patterns in Europe's major bourses, they can go even lower.

European Stocks: "Hope And Optimism Prevail"
These are not the typical psychological conditions for a stock market bottom.

Conventional economists have no shortage of villains to blame the financial crisis on – but if you ask us at EWI, the culprits are as old as investing itself: fear and greed. Whether you are in a financial bubble or a panic, a herding mentality of fear or greed takes over. This curious behavioral phenomenon is precisely what the Elliott Wave Principle describes and studies: Wave patterns in market charts are nothing but fear and greed unfolding right before your eyes. Take a look...

A Bucket of Sand for ECB's Jean-Claude Trichet
What's in store for the European Union in 2009?

Pliny the Elder, a Roman military commander and philosopher, was a busy and intelligent man. His greatest legacy, Naturalis Historia, was one of the largest written works to have survived to the modern day in its original format. To this day two items from that book remain in our everyday lexicon. And as I watch the actions of Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), all I can think of is Pliny the Elder's remarks...

European Stocks: Not As Chaotic As It May Seem
In terms of price movement, both bull and bear markets are quite orderly.

I'll bet that if you ask ten people which of these two words – "order" or "chaos" – they associate bull and bear markets with, eight out of ten will say that bull markets bring order, while bear markets are chaotic. Yet in terms of price movements, both bull and bear markets are quite orderly. You want proof? OK.

Will the U.K. Housing Market Bottom In 2009?

Ever since the cracks began to appear in London's real estate sector, the mainstream officials have been sliding down a slope of hope. As a whole, they have been the "Boy who cried" Great Britain's housing bottom. Get the full scoop today.

European Stocks: Sideways to… Higher?
Will the October-November period of sideways trading in the FTSE prove to be "base-building"?

Despite the fact that in November the index suffered another significant decline, its overall performance since late September-early October has essentially been flat, with almost zero net progress in either direction. If you think that's interesting, you're not alone. The editor of EWI's monthly European Financial Forecast (EFF), Tom Denham, focuses on this fact on p. 2 of the just-published, December issue -- and presents the following chart... 

European Stocks: Worst News Comes at a Bottom?
"This historic performance suggests that the decline may be at least temporarily exhausted."

You may know that the Elliott Wave Principle is a contrarian investment method. Based on years of observing market behavior, we at EWI know that while the best news typically comes near market tops, the worst news appears – you guessed it, near bottoms...

European Stocks: The Dance Of The Fearful
Bear markets can destroy very quickly what took years to build.

Bear markets can destroy very quickly what took years to build. They are fast because they are driven by fear, and fear is stronger than greed, the bull market catalyst. This is what Tom Denham, Elliott Wave International Senior European Equity Analyst, says about this cycle in the opening paragraph of his current, October European Financial Forecast...