The squabbling in Congress disappeared last week as record-setting snowfall amounts shut down Washington for 4 days.  230,000 government employees could not get to work until Friday, forcing the delay of numerous scheduled releases from various departments.  Even Ben Bernanke's planned testimony on Wednesday before a House panel was scrapped in lieu of written comments from the Fed Chairman.  Bernanke provided greater details on the Fed's plan to adroitly move short-term interest rates upward in an attempt to slow the nation's economy when the time is right (source: Federal Reserve). 
 
Now that the financial dust has settled on the European debt crisis, the 3 nations with the greatest exposure to Greece's massive debt levels are France, Germany and Switzerland.  Greece's debt-to-GDP ratio has been pegged at 120%, forcing the 15 Euro-zone countries (note that Greece is the 16th Euro-zone country) to prepare a bailout plan.  The US was happy to stay out of the conversation.  Considering that our debt-to-GDP ratio is 85%, the less said the better (source: BTN Research).              
 
Today analysts from the Treasury Department will release data showing which foreign countries bought the most Treasury securities last year.  China, with approximately $800 billion in Treasury notes and bonds, is the largest foreign holder of Treasuries.  Their ownership of our Treasury securities is a direct result of the trade deficit the US runs with China. The Chinese take the dollars Americans pay for Chinese products and invest them in Treasury securities (source: Treasury Department).