It seems that Greece is getting the fvck out of Europe

[Who Dares Win]

The country is no longer under control and its so screwed up that central european bankers are seriously considering an Europe without Greece.

Main parties unable to hold the country and nazis and communists getting high percentages dont help either.

 

[Gaucho]

Yeh, Greece is heading into chaos. They lived beyond their means for way too long and now that it's time to take the pain, they don't want to. Spain, Italy, Portugal next. Europe is heading down the plughole until they break down this rediculous half baked currency union.

 

[Bible_Belt]

They have always been on the fringe of the European economy anyway. It looks like they will go back to the Drachma, which will devalue right away, but then a weak currency would make them an attractive tourist destination again. Ending strikes, work stoppages, and riots wouldn't hurt, either.

The problem now is that the money that was loaned to Greece came from a lot of very wealthy people, and it is simply un-human to allow the ultra-wealthy to take a financial loss, so those rich investors will now be bailed out by their own countries, basically their own tax payers. The issue is not really Greece, but rather who will back up the investors who loaned Greece money. Somebody has to pay for their poor investment choices, and it certainly won't be them.

 

[synergy1]

The problem now is that the money that was loaned to Greece came from a lot of very wealthy people, and it is simply un-human to allow the ultra-wealthy to take a financial loss, so those rich investors will now be bailed out by their own countries, basically their own tax payers. The issue is not really Greece, but rather who will back up the investors who loaned Greece money. Somebody has to pay for their poor investment choices, and it certainly won't be them.

the Ibanks didn't take a haircut in 2008, and they won't again when the euro financial instruments go belly up. Another bailout in the USA wouldn't bode well considering how poor our economy is and how public it previously has been made. What gets me is that no lessons were learned from last time and nothing has been done to change anything so it WILL happen again.

The question is what can you do as an investor? Sell some stock? Buy when the market goes south?

 

[Gaucho]

They have always been on the fringe of the European economy anyway. It looks like they will go back to the Drachma, which will devalue right away, but then a weak currency would make them an attractive tourist destination again. Ending strikes, work stoppages, and riots wouldn't hurt, either.

The problem now is that the money that was loaned to Greece came from a lot of very wealthy people, and it is simply un-human to allow the ultra-wealthy to take a financial loss, so those rich investors will now be bailed out by their own countries, basically their own tax payers. The issue is not really Greece, but rather who will back up the investors who loaned Greece money. Somebody has to pay for their poor investment choices, and it certainly won't be them.

Yeh, Greece needs a massive currency devaluation, that is the problem with the European Union, too many structural differences between countries and all have to abide by the same interest rate, without fiscal policy being in sync or Euro area bonds (which means the Governments must borrow on their own ratings). It cannot work. It works when states come together quickly like in the US, but not when states have been on their own for thousands of years. The Germans will never share fiscal policy and their work ethic with the PIGS and without 100% committment, you are dealing with something which just cannot work.

The bailouts came from a trioka which includes, IMF, European Commission and the ECB. That is money from Governments (basically taxpayer dollars and debt monetization).

 

[Gaucho]

the Ibanks didn't take a haircut in 2008, and they won't again when the euro financial instruments go belly up. Another bailout in the USA wouldn't bode well considering how poor our economy is and how public it previously has been made. What gets me is that no lessons were learned from last time and nothing has been done to change anything so it WILL happen again.

The question is what can you do as an investor? Sell some stock? Buy when the market goes south?

Ibanks took a cut already on Greek sovereign debt in this current European crisis. I believe it was a 50% haircut? It was all part of the current round of bailouts. They coudn't take a haircut in 2008 because they were being bailed out, a haircut is when you agree to take a lower % for every dollar of debt owed to you.

What can you do as an investor? Short the EUR against USD, JPY and CHF.