Investors around the world have long been concerned that the sovereign debt problems being witnessed in Greece will spread to other countries and undermine the economic recovery. Now, there are signs that at least one country could be in danger of following in Greece's footsteps.
According to a report from Reuters, the Portuguese government is facing record costs to insure its debt against default, while Greece is continuing to see its own elevated borrowing costs.
"The Greek crisis has started to spread to the rest of the periphery and Portugal seems to be next in line. The situation there is less urgent than in Greece, but the medium-term outlook is challenging," Reuters quoted Darren Williams of Alliance Bernstein as saying.
If one of the countries in the euro zone does end up defaulting on its debt obligations in the foreseeable future, the impact on world financial markets could be unpredictable.
When it comes to concern about unstable financial markets, one traditional safe harbor has always been precious metals like silver and dealer gold. This is especially the case considering how strong prices have been over the past several years.
