"Après nous le déluge?" - France's government sells short-term bonds at negative interest rates.

"Après nous le déluge?" - France's government sells short-term bonds at negative interest rates.(AP).By Masha MacPherson. PARIS -- France enjoyed a boost in investor confidence with a successful bond auction Monday - but also got a warning from the president that growth so far this year is "nil" and that the country needs to rethink its social model. France's government sold (EURO) 6 billlion in short-term bonds at negative interest rates Monday, as investors flock to the perceived safety of Europe's larger economies. It was the first time rates entered negative territory, according to the French Treasury. France's borrowing costs have been dropping in recent months as those in neighboring Spain have soared and raised fears that it, too, will need a bailout. France, the No. 2 economy in Europe, has high debts of its own and 10-percent unemployment, and is struggling to avoid a new recession. "Everybody knows that in the first half of the year, growth will be nil. So we need to mobilize all our forces, all our imagination, all our capacities to achieve lasting growth for the years ahead," French President Francois Hollande said Monday at a conference with labor and business leaders meant to lay the groundwork for new jobs policies.In Monday's bond sale, the treasury sold three-month bonds at -0.005 percent, and six-month bonds at -0.006 percent. The treasury agency says it's the first time they have registered negative yields.Hmmmmm.......Read the full story here.