S&P downgrades Greek and Portuguese bonds

[Richard Hakluyt]

Sudden drama on the stock exchange 


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8647441.stm


It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

[MadImmortalMan]

It's shaping up to be a good day to pick up a position or two on the dip. I'll give it a few more hours and see what develops.

[The Minsky Moment]

It's shaping up to be a good day to pick up a position or two on the dip.

Keep in mind that there are probably some big institutions out there with large portfolios that are looking to dump on the bounces.

[Cecil]

  x1000

[Admiral Yi]

It's shaping up to be a good day to pick up a position or two on the dip. I'll give it a few more hours and see what develops.

What kind of instrument would you buy to go long short term on a sovereign bond?

[C.C.R.]

What kind of instrument would you buy to go long short term on a sovereign bond?

Definitely a trumpet...

[MadImmortalMan]

What kind of instrument would you buy to go long short term on a sovereign bond?

I'd say somebody looking to trade on that kind of thing would probably be doing currency exchange trades. I'm sure people shorting the Euro are making a lot of money this week. And people going long in gold. GLD is up pretty good today. I just like to take my long positions in stocks when we have downward spikes in the market in general.

[Ed Anger]

Cork down, Rape up.

[Martinus]

What kind of instrument would you buy to go long short term on a sovereign bond?

I'd say somebody looking to trade on that kind of thing would probably be doing currency exchange trades. I'm sure people shorting the Euro are making a lot of money this week.

Why?

Europe is more likely to jettison Greece than to take a big hit to Euro value.

[Alatriste]

What kind of instrument would you buy to go long short term on a sovereign bond?

I'd say somebody looking to trade on that kind of thing would probably be doing currency exchange trades. I'm sure people shorting the Euro are making a lot of money this week.

Why?

Europe is more likely to jettison Greece than to take a big hit to Euro value.

I wouldn't be so sure, a lower Euro is good for exports. German exports, for example...

[Tamas]

IIRC the dollar has been gaining a lot against the euro over the treacherous Greeks and on the short term the euro will nosedive if Greece gets banned from the eurozone, thats how shit works.

The related thing I find funny, annoying, and scary however is what a columnist of thestreet.com calls the "HAL 9000 rallies". Every single day when the american indexes turn into negative, during their late afternoons an accross the board buying sweep begins until they manage to put stuff back into the green. Even yesterday they attempted it.

[Richard Hakluyt]

For some unfathomable reason my Marston's shares ( http://www.marstons.co.uk/ ) have been performing very badly since this news came out 

I can't see the link at all, Brits are going to respond to a Greek default by not going to the pub anymore? Rather farfetched 

[Martim Silva]

Things are rather hectic here.

And they're real bad. Far worse than any of you imagine.

Currently, Greece and Portugal will be bailed out by Germany. What the Germans think doesn't matter.

The contagion is real and spreading. A spanish crisis is almost sure (got their rating cut today) and their bailout will push the Germans to the limit.

And there are even more countries on the edge.

[alfred russel]

For some unfathomable reason my Marston's shares ( http://www.marstons.co.uk/ ) have been performing very badly since this news came out 

I can't see the link at all, Brits are going to respond to a Greek default by not going to the pub anymore? Rather farfetched 

Does Marston have any exposure to the euro? If the euro goes in the tank, that is going to hurt their bottom line when reported in pounds.

[DGuller]

Instead of bailouts, wouldn't it be much cheaper just to make the rating agencies assign a higher grade to Greece, Portugal, and Spain?