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Posts Tagged ‘Greece’

Giant ‘balloon of magma’ inflating under Greek island could cause first eruption in over 60 years

September 10, 2012 1 comment

earth-issues

A giant ‘balloon of magma’ is inflating under the volcanic Greek island of Santorini, warns a new study.

The balloon is so big it has forced the island upwards by 14cm between January 2011 and April this year.

It has also triggered a series of small earthquakes, the first seismic activity in 25 years – raising fears that the volcano could erupt for the first time since 1950.

Volcanic crater on Nea Kameni, Santorini, Greece. The chamber of molten rock beneath Santorini's volcano expanded 10 to 20 million cubic metresVolcanic crater on Nea Kameni, Santorini, Greece. The chamber of molten rock beneath Santorini’s volcano expanded 10 to 20 million cubic metres

The chamber of molten rock beneath the volcano has expanded 10 to 20 million cubic metres – up to 15 times the size of London’s Olympic Stadium – between the time – according to a survey conducted by a team led by Oxford University scientists.

The results come from Read more…

Categories: Greece, volcano Tags: , , , ,

S&P Downgrades Greece to ‘Selective Default’

February 28, 2012 Comments off

moneynews

Greece’s credit ratings were cut to “Selective Default” by Standard & Poor’s after it negotiated the biggest sovereign debt restructuring in history.

S&P dropped Greece’s rating from CC, two levels above default, after the government added clauses to its debt designed to mop up investors unwilling to take part in the exchange, the New York-based company said in a statement Monday.

The downgrade follows a reduction last week by Fitch Ratings to C, while Moody’s Investors Service has said it will cut the nation to its lowest rating. Greece published the formal offer document last week for its agreement to exchange bonds for new securities, with investors taking a Read more…

Categories: Deficit, Greece Tags: , , ,

Will America follow Greece?

February 14, 2012 Comments off

timesunion.com

Our opinion: Congress could take a lesson from Greece, which waited far too long to do something about spending and revenue. But the early signs are not encouraging.

On two things liberals, conservatives and just about everyone in between should be able to agree: First, a nation that keeps spending more than it takes in is headed the way of Greece. Second, nobody wants to be Greece.

So as Congress now considers President Obama’s budget, it needs to ask whether the plan at least starts to put the U.S. government on a sustainable course, without going so far overboard that it threatens a fragile recovery. At first blush, Mr. Obama’s budget appears to be a serious start.

But first, let’s look at Greece, and not just for the sake of schadenfreude.

Greece’s crisis is the result of a nation refusing for years to accept that sometimes leadership means making hard, unpopular choices. So many Greeks enjoyed things the country really couldn’t afford: wondrously early retirement — 50 for some workers —  culturally accepted tax evasion, and, particularly for those in public service, generous salaries and benefits. To fund it all, the government plunged hopelessly into debt.

Now Greece is resorting to a View full article

Categories: Greece Tags:

Europe Is On The Verge Of Collapsing

August 8, 2011 Comments off

globalresearch

Photo by Dieter Heinemann

The scale of impact is unpredictable, but potentially worse than that of the recent toxic assets crisis. The European bloc is the second largest economy, the first trade partner of China, the largest importer of Russian energy and the first buyer of high quality raw materials (it still holds the Hilton quota, the world’s most expensive meat quota).

All over the world European debt holders and many states maintain their reserves in euros. China, for example, has one-fourth of its reserves in such currency and holds a large amount of Greek, Portuguese and Spanish debt bonds….

Without debt restructuring involving important debt amount reductions and extended maturities, Greece will not be able to meet her commitments, just like the rest of Europe’s debt-overhung Europe’s periphery economies – Ireland, Portugal, Spain, and Italy, and the effects would certainly contaminate the rest of Europe including the region’s strongest economies.

The illusion of dampening the fire by deferring debt maturities is just that – a chimera. Unless public and private bondholders’ debts are reduced and longer maturities granted, default and meltdown are Read more…

Categories: EU, Euro, Europe Tags: , , , , , ,

Euro zone boosts powers of rescue fund to aid Greece, Ireland, Portugal

July 22, 2011 Comments off

theglobeandmail

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, left, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso speak after the EU summit Thursday in Brussels. - Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, left, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso speak after the EU summit Thursday in Brussels. | AFP/Getty Images

Euro zone leaders agreed at an emergency summit on Thursday to give their financial rescue fund sweeping new powers to help Greece overcome its debt crisis and prevent market instability from spreading through the region.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said leaders of the 17-nation currency area had agreed to ease lending terms to Greece, Ireland and Portugal, while private investors would voluntarily swap their Greek bonds for longer maturities at lower interest rates to help Athens.

Categories: Euro, Europe Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Poor Man’s Gold is Breaking Out — Sell Your House and Buy Silver?

July 18, 2011 1 comment

businessinsider

   Investors have pushed silver above the recent channel high at around $39 or so per ounce and I fully expect a retest of $50 if any more talk is given about QE3 — Silver rises because of the rising digital money supply, not from speculation. Owning cash is speculative whereas owning metals is conservative or a safe haven at current prices.

Many people will tell you that silver and gold are in a bubble but the fact is that commodities in general are one of the only asset classes that work here because the consolidated banking system is holding our economy hostage and Bernanke is solely focused on saving the banks. Right now, shorting European banks and going long silver and gold looks to be about as good of a “trade” as possible — investors are essentially betting that Europe will face massive credit problems because of the obvious insolvency of Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Ireland.

The next shoe to drop is the US… We are facing the exact same issues as Read more…

Categories: Coming Events, Silver Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Gold Rises As Greek Parliament Approves Austerity

June 29, 2011 Comments off

infowars

photoPhoto: Mike Herpel.

Gold traded higher for a second day on word that the government of Greece will accept austerity measures despite the overwhelming rejection of the IMF and EU plan by the Greek people.

“By now we think (the Greek vote) should be priced and the gold price shouldn’t react to a large extent if the austerity package is really approved later in the day,” Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann told Reuters.

Reuters reported that its 19-commodity index rose 1.7 percent on Tuesday, the most significant daily rise in nearly six weeks, driven primarily by the news from Greece.

In addition to boosting gold, the news pushed the euro up over the dollar. Speculation that the Greek crisis will not stop the European Central Bank from raising interest rates next week also contributed to the fall of the dollar, according to Bloomberg. The ECB raised Read more…

Categories: GOLD, Greece Tags: , , , , ,

Economist Charles Gave: The Euro Will Not Exist In One Year!

June 28, 2011 2 comments

businessinsider

Charles GaveCharles Gave is the French economist whose research firm GaveKal is fairly well known, and read in some hedge fund circles.

In his latest note, John Mauldin reports on a dinner he attended with several investors and experts, of which Gave was one. At the dinner, he predicted the Euro’s imminent demise.

The section of the note is below.

——–

Will the Euro Survive?

We had dinner on Monday night at the home of Hervig von Hove of Notz-Stucki Bank, where I was speaking the next morning. There were 16 of us at the table, and these people represented a great deal of money as managers and investors. All very well-informed. We sat outside in perfect weather in the Swiss countryside. Charles Gave sat across from me at the middle of the table, and we talked and debated as the rest asked questions and offered opinions for 3-4 hours. The wine was flowing, and it was a most interesting evening. Now, with that set-up…

I was asked if I still thought the euro was going to parity with the dollar, and I said I did, although I was not sure what the euro would look like in three years, or who would be in it. There was some pushback from people who thought the dollar would be the weaker currency. So I asked for a show of hands as to how many people thought the euro would be higher in one year’s time. There were 6 hands raised, but one gentleman said he was actually abstaining. So I asked how many thought the euro Read more…

Categories: Euro Tags: , , , , , ,

European Union growing more divided

June 26, 2011 1 comment

freep.com

IN GREECE: About 3,000 police officers, coast guard workers and firefighters protest salary and budget cuts on Thursday in Athens. Austerity measures in Greece have fueled disenchantment with the European Union.

 IN GREECE: About 3,000 police officers, coast guard workers and firefighters protest salary and budget cuts on Thursday in Athens. Austerity measures in Greece have fueled disenchantment with the European Union. / DIMITRI MESSINIS/Associated Press

FLENSBURG, Germany — Erik Holm Jensen slips between countries without a thought or a passport.

The 60-year-old business consultant drives from Denmark into northern Germany as smoothly as an American going from Delaware to New Jersey. There’s no hassle at the border, no guards to stop him. If he blinks, he misses the modest sign indicating he’s crossed from one country into another.

Such seamless travel is one of the European Union’s greatest achievements in its pursuit of a stable, prosperous continent built in the lingering aftermath of World War II. The other is the euro, like the wad in Jensen’s wallet that he can use in 17 nations.

But the twin pillars of Europe’s grand project are now Read more…

Categories: EU Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bailout plan roils Greece’s leaders

June 17, 2011 2 comments

boston

Greece was wracked by political turmoil yesterday as the embattled prime minister faced down a party revolt over new austerity measures — a bitter dispute that forced the EU to hint at new loans so Greece can fend off a summer default.

Prime Minister George Papandreou has struggled to garner support for a new package of $39.5 billion in spending cuts and tax hikes demanded by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, which last year granted his debt-ridden nation $155 billion in bailout loans.

But the measures have sparked riots on the streets of Athens and open criticism from his own Socialist lawmakers. Papandreou’s desperate efforts to form a coalition government with the opposition conservatives collapsed Wednesday, and the Read more…

Categories: Greece Tags: , , , , ,