Reuters reports (via ForexLive) that Italian PM Mario Monti is flying to Brussels unexpectedly, and his office is giving no details about who he's going to meet or what he will while in the European capitol.

News of his sudden trip coincided with a momentary drop in the value of the euro versus the dollar below $1.28, a value it hasn't hit since September 2010, according to CNBC. The euro has been falling steadily since Tuesday.

The Italian stock exchange is also getting crushed today. The FTSE MIB is down over 3.6%.

Plans of a meeting between Monti and German Chancellor Angela Merkel surfaced yesterday, as investor optimism from December continues to deflate. That will happen on January 11 in Berlin, two days after Merkel meets with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

If these last few months are any indication, all these meetings will likely be accompanied by swirling rumors and new predictions of European doom, particularly since it still appears that European leaders are not willing to take radical action to put an end to the crisis.

The crisis appears to be heating up again in the eurozone.