Club Med

What would Europe look like without its sickly meditteranean members? Today's market actions (and the associated moves in U.S. Treasuries) put the U.S. decidedly ahead of all competitors.

LONDON (Dow Jones)--European stock markets tumbled on Tuesday, as Italian and Spanish stocks posted steep losses and the government bond yields of both nations continued to surge on the back of rising sovereign-debt concerns.

The Spanish IBEX 35 index dropped 3% to 7,433.60, its lowest closing level since March 2009, as growing fears about the country's budgetary situation dampened investor sentiment. The Italian FTSE MIB index sank 5% to 14,458.88, which was the biggest one-day drop since the beginning of November. The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index closed 2.5% lower at 252.57.