Moneybox

One of the dominant themes of the eurozone crisis has been the continued strength of the German economy, an export powerhouse that's been well-positioned to take advantage of rapid growth in China. Except the latest German PMI numbers show output shrinking in June. And PMI also showed German output sinking in May. And the June shrinkage was worse than the May shrinkage—German manufacturing activity's now at a three-year low.

On the one hand, that rapid Chinese growth seems to be hitting a wall. On the other hand, exports to the eurozone "periphery" are another important part of the German economic mix.