In late June and early July, financial news outlets were busy calculating all the ways that the Greek debt crisis could either raise, lower or steady European stocks.

"Greece hope[s] push European shares higher" -- Reuters 6/27/11 
"European shares steady ahead of key Greek vote" -- Reuters 6/27/11
"European shares edge lower on Greece..." -- Reuters 6/28/11 
"Hopes of Greek debt resolution boosts indices" -- Irish Times 6/29/11

Yet no one in the financial media was talking about the most important story, namely that nine European markets were testing one-year or multi-year trendlines.

No one, that is, except Brian Whitmer, editor of EWI's monthly European Financial Forecast . Read what Brian told his subscribers in the July 1 issue about why these trendlines are so important in two markets in particular (emphasis added):

"Notice the two 'lines in the sand' shown below, which connect the daily closes and intraday extremes in the CAC 40 and Eurostoxx50 indexes.

"Since [the bottom] more than one year ago, the Eurostoxx index has nicked this line on eight previous occasions. France's equivalent line has reversed the market's sell-off seven previous times. The CAC 40, moreover, has closed beneath this line just three times in the past year, while the Eurostoxx has never spent more than a few hours below its respective support. Since the market thinks this line is important, we do, too. That makes any sustained break below this line even more important.

"On June 2, stocks sank beneath this support and stayed there nearly all month. We believe this action to be an important bearish omen."

A "bearish omen," indeed. Since Brian published that forecast, both the CAC 40 and Eurostoxx 50 are down more than 25%.

Here's what these two markets look like now, as shown in the just-published August European Financial Forecast:

Brian Whitmer is an experienced market technician who gives you an independent perspective on European bourses you won't find elsewhere. He leaves no stone unturned in his quest to give you an edge over the investing herd.

What does his analysis suggest for European markets now? You can find out via a risk-free subscription to The European Financial Forecast. Preview the latest issue below. 

It seems like it's been with us forever. But as EWI's August European Financial Forecast points out, the crisis began "21 months ago in Greece and Italy," as their respective stock markets topped.

That's a hugely important point. The Greek debt crisis began after Greek stocks had topped, which confirms again what we often say here at EWI: Stocks lead the economy, not the other way around, despite what the conventional financial model says.

Therefore, if you want to know what's next for the European debt crisis, you need to know where European stocks will go in the weeks and months ahead. And that's exactly what EWI's August European Financial Forecast tells you…
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