The euro fell for a second straight day today amid fears that economies of Portugal, Greece and Spain could collapse in a sea of debt.

Nobody is buying European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichets assertions about Eurozone financial stability.

The damage: the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 1.6 per cent, while Germany’s DAX fell 1.3 per cent and the CAC-40 in France was 2.1 per cent lower.

Overnight, the combination of European debt and the level of unemployment in the US sent stocks across Asia plunging:

* Shanghai -1.866%
* Nikkei -2.89%
* South Korea -3.050%

Little wonder the enthusiasm for shorting the Euro.