Spain

Whispers and nameless sources this morning are signaling Spain is preparing to ask the European Central Bank for a sovereign bailout causing bond and equity markets in Europe to zig and zag throughout the day.

In further austerity measures, the government imposes some $50 billion of tax hikes and spending cuts

Spain has unveiled an ambitious budget plan. Will it be enough to get the job done? Meanwhile, what does the mixed economic data in the U.S. mean for the economy?

Today the government of Spain is expected to lay out yet another new budget with even more cuts in it.

Markets are shaken by the mass protests against austerity measures in Greece and Spain. Investors are questioning their earlier optimism over the prospects of recovery in Europe.

More protests are expected in Spain today after some big demonstrations last night. There's outrage over a new round of budget cuts as Spain tries to avoid becoming the next Greece.

Last week in Europe there was relative euphoria: The European Central Bank said it stood ready to buy the government bonds of any nation that came seeking its help. That would help countries like Spain and Italy keep their borrowing costs down, and keep them from lapsing into financial crisis.

Markets have been a brighter in the past week after the European Central Bank announced a plan to keep Spain, Italy and other troubled economies afloat. But the possibility of even more austerity on top of sky-high unemployment has the Spanish worried.

Spain's borrowing costs are up to 7.5 percent -- the higest since it joined the euro. As a result of the regional crisis, Moody's announced today that it is poised to lower Germany's credit rating to AA.

New fears of a Spanish recession despite bailout measures are shaking global markets today as the threat of Greece's economic crisis still looms large in the region.