Bunds with Negative Yields

The flight to safety in Europe has reached such proportions that buyers are taking some German bonds at negative interest rates. Apparently, for some European investors, if they have cash, they'd rather pay to store their money in bunds than to put it in any European bank, whose promises to convert deposits into cash on demand are deemed less credible than Germany's promises to redeem their bonds in five years' time (or else are counting on rising fears to run up the secondary-market price of bunds still further). France has also benefited from the flight to safety (or is it a flight from Germany's negative yields to something slightly less safe but more remunerative?). Despite Sarkozy's warnings that French borrowing costs would rise if Hollande was elected, yields on French bonds have in fact fallen. Compared to the PIGS, France looks solid enough to invest in.