angela merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy meet today for the first time in 2012 as they seek to craft a master plan for rescuing the euro over the next three months.

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany appears to have adopted a strategy aimed at remaking the euro zone in her country’s likeness.

Here is a recap of the top news items from this week on Wall Street: 1. The Dow Jones opened down more than 230 points on Wednesday and continued lower to close down 390 following Italian 10-year bond yields which breached the 7% level, a key crisis level.

Adding to the contagion, rumors suggested Angela Merkel's party wants to make it possible for European Union members to exit the euro. 2.

George Papandreou resigned as Greece's Prime Minister this week, making true what many had considered a certainty for some time.

Lucas Papademos was named as Papandreou's successor, at least on an

Events this week have forced the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, to become mired in Greek politics.

Chancellor Angela Merkel won the support of German lawmakers to increase the firepower of eurozone's bailout fund Wednesday and indicated that private investors like banks should take a writedown of at least 50 percent on their Greek debt holdings.

The French government says French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will speak by phone later Monday to discuss an upcoming EU summit amid signs they disagree on parts of a new crisis plan.

Gainers

• iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (NYSE: VXX) up 5.26 percent to $42.59. The CBOE VIX is up over 11 percent on the session as German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said an upcoming summit meeting on October 23rd shouldn't results in a be-all, end-all solution to Europe's debt worries.
  
  Chancellor Angela Merkel echoed the sentiment. The comments are sending shivers through the market two-weeks early -- Halloween being two Mondays from now -- as fear of further debt fallout and lack of solutions grip investors.

German legislators on Thursday overwhelmingly approved expanding the powers of the eurozone bailout fund, a major step toward tackling the sprawling debt crisis, in a vote that also helped strengthen Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government.

Greece will receive the next batch of bailout loans in time to avoid a disastrous default, the finance minister said Tuesday, while the prime minister was in Berlin for critical talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Opposition to giving Europe's rescue fund new powers appears to be growing within Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition, weeks ahead of a key parliamentary vote.