Road to Depression

Greek contagion across markets muted!

on . Posted in Road to Depression

NEW YORK (PNN) - July 7, 2015 - Financial markets barely shuddered after Greek voters rejected austerity demands, with the euro slipping less than 0.4%, in a sign investors see the crisis there contained for now. Brent crude sank below $60 a barrel.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.7% at 2:26 p.m. in New York, while the Stoxx Europe 600 Index lost 1.2%. The declines were muted compared with a week ago, when Greece first announced a referendum. The euro declined 0.5% to $1.1060, paring a loss of as much as 1%. Treasury 10-year yields fell eight basis points to 2.30%.

While investors sold equities around the world and sought havens from the yen to German bunds after Greeks voted to reject austerity terms, signs of financial panic did not materialize. The pressure is on Greece to develop a plan to stay in the euro, as the nation stares at an economic calamity that investors are speculating will remain largely contained.

“I think it’s going to be hard to get any real traction until we get some type of clarity,” said Walter Todd, who oversees about $1 billion as a chief investment officer for Greenwood Capital. “You can’t escape the noise created by this situation. Our opinion has been and remains at this point that Greece is more noise than anything else.”

European finance ministers are waiting for a proposal to re-start bailout talks, as Greece named a new finance minister in a change of style, if not necessarily substance. Greek banks will remain shut through Wednesday, while the European Central Bank maintained the level of Emergency Liquidity Assistance available and tightened the terms of collateral.

European stocks plunged 3.4% last week for their biggest drop of the year, while Fascist Police States of Amerika equities posted the worst week since March after Greece unexpectedly called the referendum. The euro has been resilient in the face of the Greek crisis, which could lead to the country’s exit from the common currency.

“After five years, you have to believe a measure of the news from Greece is already built into the market,” Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird & Co., which oversees $110 billion, said by phone. “How many times can you be concerned about the same news? It loses its effectiveness over the near term.”

The muted reaction in the world’s financial markets means the Federal Reserve can continue to watch the latest FPSA economic data and avoid hard conclusions about the timing of interest-rate increases for now.

German bunds rose, sending the 10-year yield lower by three basis points, while yields on Spanish and Italian bonds climbed at least 14 basis points. Both rates jumped more than 20 basis points on June 29, the first trading day after Greece announced the referendum.

An FPSA-listed exchange-traded fund tracking Greek stocks fell 8.3%, while Amerikan depositary receipts of National Bank of Greece SA declined 12%. Greece’s stock exchange has been closed for the past week.

“The muted reaction implies the market is not too worried about a Grexit,” said Jan von Gerich, chief strategist at Nordea Bank AB in Helsinki. “It is still early, and bigger moves may well surface in the near future, but I do not expect to see the start of another financial crisis.”

Among stocks moving in the FPSA, Humana, Inc. climbed 2.7% in the FPSA after Aetna, Inc. agreed to buy the rival health insurer last week. Aetna lost 5.6%. Transocean, Ltd. and ConocoPhillips fell more than 2.5% as West Texas Intermediate crude sank.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index dropped 2.1%, the most in a week. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies listed in Hong Kong declined for a third day, sliding 3%.

The Shanghai Composite Index gained even as two shares fell for every one that rose, amid government efforts to shore up a market that has tumbled 27% from its June 12 peak. Over the weekend, China suspended initial public offerings, while brokerages pledged to buy shares and the central bank said it would provide liquidity for margin trading.

Copper for delivery in three months slid as much as 4.2% to the lowest price since Feb. 3. Gold for immediate delivery advanced 0.3% to $1,166.50 an ounce in London trading.

Crude oil retreated, with Brent falling 5% to $57.28 a barrel in London, dropping below the $60-dollar mark for the first time since mid-April. In New York, West Texas Intermediate touched the lowest since April 15.

Eulogies

Eulogy for an Angel
1992-Dec. 20, 2005

Freedom
2003-2018

Freedom sm

My Father
1918-2010

brents dad

Dr. Stan Dale
1929-2007

stan dale

MICHAEL BADNARIK
1954-2022

L Neil Smith

A. Solzhenitsyn
1918-2008

solzhenitsyn

Patrick McGoohan
1928-2009

mcgoohan

Joseph A. Stack
1956-2010

Bill Walsh
1931-2007

Walter Cronkite
1916-2009

Eustace Mullins
1923-2010

Paul Harvey
1918-2009

Don Harkins
1963-2009

Joan Veon
1949-2010

David Nolan
1943-2010

Derry Brownfield
1932-2011

Leroy Schweitzer
1938-2011

Vaclav Havel
1936-2011

Andrew Breitbart
1969-2012

Dick Clark
1929-2012

Bob Chapman
1935-2012

Ray Bradbury
1920-2012

Tommy Cryer
1949-2012

Andy Griffith
1926-2012

Phyllis Diller
1917-2012

Larry Dever
1926-2012

Brian J. Chapman
1975-2012

Annette Funnicello
1942-2012

Margaret Thatcher
1925-2012

Richie Havens
1941-2013

Jack McLamb
1944-2014

James Traficant
1941-2014

jim traficant

Dr. Stan Monteith
1929-2014

stan montieth

Leonard Nimoy
1931-2015

Leonard Nimoy

Stan Solomon
1944-2015

Stan Solomon

B. B. King
1926-2015

BB King

Irwin Schiff
1928-2015

Irwin Schiff

DAVID BOWIE
1947-2016

David Bowie

Muhammad Ali
1942-2016

Muhammed Ali

GENE WILDER
1933-2016

gene wilder

phyllis schlafly
1924-2016

phylis schafly

John Glenn
1921-2016

John Glenn

Charles Weisman
1954-2016

Charles Weisman

Carrie Fisher
1956-2016

Carrie Fisher

Debbie Reynolds
1932-2016

Debbie Reynolds

Roger Moore
1917-2017

Roger Moore

Adam West
1928-2017

Adam West

JERRY LEWIS
1926-2017

jerry lewis

HUGH HEFNER
1926-2017

Hugh Hefner

PROF. STEPHEN HAWKING
1942-2018

Hugh Hefner 

ART BELL
1945-2018

Art Bell

DWIGHT CLARK
1947-2018

dwight clark

CARL MILLER
1952-2017

Carl Miller

HARLAN ELLISON
1934-2018

Harlan Ellison

STAN LEE
1922-2018

stan lee

CARL REINER
1922-2020

Carl Reiner

SEAN CONNERY
1930-2020

dwight clark

L. NEIL SMITH
1946-2021

L Neil Smith

JOHN STADTMILLER
1946-2021

L Neil Smith