Why Thursday’s Euro Summit Really Is a Make-or-Break Moment. Really.

BRUSSELS – The European Union reached a landmark deal on Thursday to make the European Central Bank the bloc’s top banking supervisor, giving EU leaders greater confidence that they are gaining the upper hand over the eurozone’s debt crisis. EU finance ministers forged a deal on the single supervisor in the early hours of Thursday after marathon talks. Leaders will give their stamp of approval at a summit starting later in the day, their last of 2012, and also discuss closer fiscal ties for their troubled currency area.

Praise from German chancellor Angela Merkel is typically hard to come by. However, Merkel is freely distributing praise these days, to the person least-deserving, herself. As the eurozone marches down the "Road to Shared Liability" Germans are largely unaware of the Hidden Risks of the Euro-Zone Bank Oversight Plan risks that Merkel ignored when agreeing to the eurozone oversight plan last week.

BRUSSELS/BERLIN – Germany signaled on Wednesday it was ready to back plans for the European Central Bank to be made the chief supervisor of banks, raising the prospect of a breakthrough on the European Union’s most ambitious financial reform. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told the German cabinet he was “optimistic” about a deal ahead of a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels on Wednesday, a German official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -

(Reuters) - Canada's main stock index looked set to open lower on Thursday, as investors eyed e