The Pain In Spain, Part 2

Ahh, but across the pond in Europe, the financial mess over there is still in full swing, and there are a whole lot more individual countries with ugly credit rating problems to worry about, like Spain.

Rating agency Moody's put Spain on review for a possible downgrade on Friday, adding to concerns that a Greek rescue package has done little to halt the spread of Europe's debt crisis.

Moody's move to place the Aa2 government bond rating on review cited concerns over growth and said funding costs would continue to be high in the wake of euro zone leaders' bolder moves to curb the Greek crisis last week.

That added to a sense that Spain - and Italy - are still firmly in the firing line, and the euro and Spanish bond prices fell in response.

Particular focus rested on Spain's regional governments, many of whom are struggling with burgeoning debt loads after a decade of reckless spending. Analysts fear control over regions' debt loads is slipping out of the central government's grasp.

Regional authorities will miss their collective budget deficit target by up to 0.75 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), Moody's said, hampering the central government's program of austerity to reduce the overall shortfall.

"Regional governments' finances may prove difficult to control due to structural spending pressures, particularly in the healthcare sector," Moody's said in a release.

Translation: People are still expecting another major European bailout, and we'd be talking about it if everyone wasn't scared out of their wits that the Tea Party here in the states is about to push the Big Red Button.  The PIIGS nations are still quite firmly in real trouble and the Greek Fire is spreading. It's pretty clear that people are expecting a huge, comprehensive European bailout package and soon.