As the Italian stock market dips and dives, a new firework has arrived in Naples that mimics the erratic trends of Italy's bond rate.
The two weeks leading up to Christmas in Italy are often marked by celebratory fireworks. This penchant for loud firecrackers is even more evident in the days between Christmas and New Year's Eve.
It is a Neapolitan tradition to ring in the new year with appropriately themed fireworks. In recent years, fireworks were designed to commemorate everything from Maradona's ball to Bin Laden's rocket.
The symbol of 2011 will be a gunpowder filled contraption dubbed the O' spred, dedicated to the spread between weak Italian bond markets and its higher German counterpart.
While past commemorative pyrotechnics brought high prices, the 2011 illegal firecracker of choice comes at a price that reflects the crisis it represents. The Maradona firework of a few years ago went for 500 Euro a pop, but the O' spred will ring in the New Year at the recession-friendly price of 50 Euro.
A reminder of the 2011 troubles, the firecracker will light up the sky in hopes of a happier 2012.
