Italian bond yields rocket despite the prime minister finally bowing to pressure to go and bankers fear they will lose out again if there is a default. It’s a great day for burying bad news, which is handy because there is a lot of it. At the time of writing, Italian 10-year bond yields were well above 7% and continuing to rise, despite Silvio Berlusconi agreeing to step aside as soon as it was practical for him to do so...

Markets around the world had heart flutters as this level of yield passed levels that previous bailout contenders -- Greece, Ireland, Portugal -- had hit before reaching for the begging bowl.