Worst Day of 2012 So Far (DIA, SPY, NBG)

If you can believe it, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA) and the S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY) have not yet had a single closing bell loss of 1% on a full trading day in 2012.  As worries mount about Greece, moving to Spain and Ireland, and worries growing over growth rates in Brazil and China, the markets are finally getting that 1% move.  The market has only been open for about one hour, so any news could come later today which may exaggerate or alleviate the move here so far.

The DJIA is down almost 163 points at 12,799.83 and the S&P is down 18.45 points to 1,345.88. What is interesting is that the Greek cheerleading ADR is National Bank of Greece S.A. (NYSE: NBG) and its shares in New York are actually trading higher as the ADR is up 4.2% at $3.21 and we have already seen close to a full day’s volume.

Greece is blamed on fears that private bondholders may not meet the pending deadline to complete the proposed debt swaps.  If that occurs, then it is a situation more of a formal default rather than a soft default which triggers credit default swaps and other issues.  After that, Ireland and Spain may come down the pipe next.

Another day, another dollar.

JON C. OGG