The euro has been saved and the euro crisis is a thing of the past, European commission president José Manuel Barroso has declared. But his optimistic comments and the prospect of looser rules for banks failed to lift markets, which ended a strong run of recent gains. "I think we can say that the existential threat against the euro has essentially been overcome," Barroso said in Lisbon. "In 2013 the question won't be if the euro will, or will not, implode," he said. Barroso has maintained an optimistic stance throughout the crisis, but his comments were in sharp contrast to the new year's message from German c ... (full story)