Economy

The Fallout of Greek Shame

OK, so the news out of Greece is about as bad as one can get, short of military involvement. The financial markets are in turmoil, after somehow actually having been tricked into thinking the Greeks would strike a bargain. Why is another matter, and perhaps a lesson of why you should not deal with a nation that throughout modern times has a business model of default.

So, Greeks can only take out a few euros a day. Greek banks and markets are closed (likely for the week), capital controls are in place and the socialists are closer to getting the treatment they deserve. The last-ditch effort is that Tsipras is holding a referendum vote.

National Bank of Greece S.A. (NYSE: NBG) was indicated down 32%, at $0.87 after closing at $1.28 on Friday. The American depositary shares (ADSs) of National Bank of Greece had a prior 52-week range of $0.98 to $3.90. If you have been a reader of 24/7 Wall St. for very long, you have been warned over and over about Greece nationalization — and that may be the case for NBG as well.

Banco Santander S.A. (NYSE: SAN) is paying a steep price as well, as it is a bank in the land of the PIIGS as well, even if it is in Spain. Banco Santander ADSs were indicated down 6.1% at $7.07. It has a 52-week range of $6.61 to $10.66. The rival Spanish bank is Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (NYSE: BBVA), or BBVA. Its shares closed at $10.48 on Friday in New York trading, and they are indicated at just under $10.00 in early bird New York trading. BBVA has a 52-week range of $8.44 to $13.18.

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If you want to know how bad things are in Greece, even Western Union Co. (NYSE: WU) is going to have its systems and offices in Greece shut off.

The Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF (NYSEMKT: GREK) was indicated down almost 17% at $9.80, versus a prior 52-week range of $9.76 to $23.48.

Greece was destined to learn the new lessons of a Greek walk of shame after the elected the socialist regime came into power. Now the chips are going to fall where they fall.

This is a topic one can go on and on about, but the reality is that there just isn’t that much more to say, except perhaps “Pay your bills!”

There may be a silver lining here. It is possible that the euro will be stronger without Greece in it, as long as there is no threat of Italy or Spain pulling out as well. Now creditors get to ponder yet again how to repossess national assets from a nation that will not pay its debts.

Here was our own target of 11 ways the EU could force Greece’s hand, or to get even with Greece, from mid-June.

If you want even more fallout, the S&P 500 was indicated down 23 points and the DJIA was indicated to open down 185 points.

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