Greek Woes Rattle European Financial Markets

[pscot]

Spain, Portugal and Ireland are also vulnerable. In theory, the EU won't let member states default, but as Yogi noticed, practice doesn't always follow theory.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/debt-disaster-fears-rumble-from-athens-to-london-2009-12-16

By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Rumors of a debt disaster are swirling around Europe, from Athens to Madrid and all the way to London.

Investors have rushed to sell Greek bonds since the newly elected government of George Papandreou made a startling revelation: the deficit will soar to over 12% of gross domestic product this year, well above previous official projections.

Greece's predicament has escalated concerns about contagion in other European countries whose finances are in poor shape. Just this month, the ratings of Greece have been cut both by Fitch Ratings, and, late Wednesday, by Standard & Poor's, and major agencies have warned Spain and Portugal of possible cuts.The market reaction has been swift, and brutal. The euro has dropped below the key $1.50 level. Credit-default swaps on Greek government debt -- essentially, bets that Greece will default -- have ballooned.

The ASE Composite stock-market index /quotes/comstock/! (XX:??? 2,119, -49.83, -2.30%) has dropped more than 20% since mid-October, dragged by shares of lenders including Piraeus Bank, EFG Eurobank Ergasias and National Bank of Greece /quotes/comstock/13*!nbg/quotes/nls/nbg (NBG 5.22, +0.35, +7.08%) . (more)

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. "They laughed" when a world wide recession was forecast.

And a lot of European news is not played up here.

[pscot]

3. My gold play has taken a major hit

in part because of Greek fecklessness. Who the hell do they think they are? Us?

[roamer65]

4. Relax, gold will do well when it morphs into a currency crisis.

And it will turn into a cuurency crisis.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

2. K&R. nt