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Greece has been the focus of many of economic prognosticator’s focus lately. This is because they are deeply in debt and in danger of going bankrupt. Pressure has been placed on European Union to bail them out, but thus far the European Union has stubbornly refused, much to chagrin of the Greeks.

The European Commission ruled out a Greek debt restructuring Wednesday and — with barely veiled annoyance — said it was “monitoring” credit rating agencies such as Standard & Poor’s that downgraded Greek bonds to junk status.

The EU head office stressed it has full confidence Greece’s drive to revamp its dismal public finances and the EU-IMF loans package will ease Athens’ urgent debt crisis.

“Other options are not being contemplated,” said EU spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio. “There is no scenario of debt restructuring. That is not being discussed at the moment.”

On Tuesday, stocks worldwide tanked after Standard & Poor’s downgraded Greek bonds to junk status and downgraded Portuguese bonds two notches.

Altafaj Tardio showed some disdain for the agencies. “Who is Standard & Poor’s anyway?” he said at the European Commission’s daily news briefing.

Hint: Mr. Tardio will become painfully aware of who Standard & Poor’s is if they decide to downgrade any more.

IBM is having a better year than anyone, including them, expected. They’ve increased their expectations for profit modestly after a better-than-expected quarter. This is likely a function of the particular industry IBM is in–companies are trying to streamline their processes in order to save money, and software/technology is one important way to do that.

“IBM’s shares have been particularly strong over the past week with investors anticipating the strong results, so there could be some near-term profit taking,” said Edward Jones analyst Andy Miedler. “However, I think these results are strong. We like to see they have the confidence in their business so early in the year.”

IBM said on Monday its first-quarter profit rose to $2.6 billion, or $1.97 per share, from $2.3 billion, or $1.70 per share, a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected EPS of $1.93, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose 5 percent to $22.9 billion from $21.7 billion, accelerating from a 1 percent year-on-year gain in the previous quarter. Wall Street had forecast revenue of $22.7 billion.

Gross profit margin edged up 0.2 percentage points to 43.6 percent.

Let’s hope this growth catches on in the entire technology sector–and in the entire economy, too.

Which state has broken its record for worst unemployment rate in its history? Which state has the fifth highest unemployment rate of all states? Which state has eight counties with unemployment rates exceeding 20%? If you guessed California, you’re on target.

The state was one of five, along with Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, that reached their highest unemployment rates since the government began keeping track in 1976, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. California’s was 12.5% in January, up from 12.3% in December.

“The unemployment rate will be persistently at this high level for at least a few more months,” said Esmael Adibi, an economist at Chapman University in Orange.

That is extremely bad news for both Californians and the economy. It could be worse, of course, as the Great Depression proves, but the unemployed may have a long road to travel before recovery comes.

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