Greece financial crisis | Latest : Deal reached with even tougher conditions for Greece.
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Fast Money & Foreign Objects
Greece Celebrates New Bailout With Epic $142 Million Beach Party
Jul 21, 2015
Greece celebrated securing billions in new bailout funds yesterday by throwing an enormous $142 million public beach party outside Athens.
According to local reports an estimated 430,000 people attended the massive all-day event, which the Greek government organized to "relieve national stress" caused by protracted bailout negotiations with the EU and IMF.
Rapper Kanye West was paid $2 million to host the extravaganza, which also featured performances by Madonna, 50 Cent, The Rolling Stones, Lady Gaga, P. Diddy, Snoop Dogg, One Direction, Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, Drake, Taylor Swift, and Katy Perry.
The festivities were catered by Michelin-starred chef Thomas Keller, who was flown in on a private jet from San Francisco to oversee the menu. No expense was spared in feeding the nearly half-million partygoers gathered on the sparkinlg shores of the Mediterranean.
"The foie gras was amazing," says Alexander Antoni, an unemployed bricklayer from Rhodes, "But I think my favorite dish was the truffle-scented lobster. I had four plates. I couldn't help myself, it was so delicious."
Gourmet food wasn't the only indulgence on offer. Free cigarettes, alcohol and even packages of pre-rolled marijuana joints were also available to the revelers.
The quality of the cannabis impressed even Snoop Dogg, who while onstage performing his latest album took time out to thank "Germany and Angela Merkel" for providing "some dank ass weed."
The night was capped off with a $18 million dollar fireworks and laser show, which the Guinness Book of World Records has certified as the largest of its kind ever.
The lavish party has attracted criticism from some prudish elements of the German newsmedia, who question if such an event is a prudent use of European taxpayer money. However, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was quick to dismiss such concerns.
"When you look at the size of our debt, $142 million really isn't that much money," he told a local newspaper, "Besides, we purchased over $10 million worth of the finest wines from France, Germany, Italy and Spain. This isn't just a party. We're stimulating the entire European economy."
The Greek government is also considering hiring a German waste management firm to help clean up the mess left behind.
Greece Celebrates New Bailout With Epic $142 Million Beach Party
Jul 21, 2015
According to local reports an estimated 430,000 people attended the massive all-day event, which the Greek government organized to "relieve national stress" caused by protracted bailout negotiations with the EU and IMF.
Rapper Kanye West was paid $2 million to host the extravaganza, which also featured performances by Madonna, 50 Cent, The Rolling Stones, Lady Gaga, P. Diddy, Snoop Dogg, One Direction, Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, Drake, Taylor Swift, and Katy Perry.
The festivities were catered by Michelin-starred chef Thomas Keller, who was flown in on a private jet from San Francisco to oversee the menu. No expense was spared in feeding the nearly half-million partygoers gathered on the sparkinlg shores of the Mediterranean.
"The foie gras was amazing," says Alexander Antoni, an unemployed bricklayer from Rhodes, "But I think my favorite dish was the truffle-scented lobster. I had four plates. I couldn't help myself, it was so delicious."
Gourmet food wasn't the only indulgence on offer. Free cigarettes, alcohol and even packages of pre-rolled marijuana joints were also available to the revelers.
The quality of the cannabis impressed even Snoop Dogg, who while onstage performing his latest album took time out to thank "Germany and Angela Merkel" for providing "some dank ass weed."
The night was capped off with a $18 million dollar fireworks and laser show, which the Guinness Book of World Records has certified as the largest of its kind ever.
The lavish party has attracted criticism from some prudish elements of the German newsmedia, who question if such an event is a prudent use of European taxpayer money. However, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was quick to dismiss such concerns.
"When you look at the size of our debt, $142 million really isn't that much money," he told a local newspaper, "Besides, we purchased over $10 million worth of the finest wines from France, Germany, Italy and Spain. This isn't just a party. We're stimulating the entire European economy."
The Greek government is also considering hiring a German waste management firm to help clean up the mess left behind.
Greece Celebrates New Bailout With Epic $142 Million Beach Party
The Fukin Prophecy
RIP Champ
IMF is officially bailing out of the bailout package citing astronomical levels of debt and poor government follow through on reforms...
Europeans are insistent on no debt relief...
Looks like the drachma is coming back...
Might be a good time to start planning that trip to Greece...
Europeans are insistent on no debt relief...
Looks like the drachma is coming back...
Might be a good time to start planning that trip to Greece...
The Fukin Prophecy
RIP Champ
They want to try him for treason...Varoufakis secret contingency plan
The only government official present or former who even remotely has a clue and a plan is about to get tried for treason...
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
Bailout Money Goes to Greece, Only to Flow Out Again
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/31/b...flow-out-again.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/31/b...flow-out-again.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur
King Kreole
natural blondie like goku
so this is why I saw some lady scrambling for Euros at the bank this morning 
Poh SIti Dawn
Staying Positive, Getting Better Everyday. Holler!
I was listening to our community radio and they had an economist on a show and he was saying the same thing.
He was saying that the Greeks were loaned money from French, German, and English banks. And the banks knew it would be nearly impossible for them to get paid back and so its partly their fault so as the Greeks pay back their debt they're paying to these banks instead of the things that really need it like school funding and so on.
Also compared the Germans and their 1953 London agreement to the Greeks asking for a similar plan and the Germans denying it.
Domingo Halliburton
Handmade in USA
Red Shield
Global Domination
Once the German, French, and English banks are done being paid back, they will probably let Greece fall.
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
Greek shares 'set to plunge 20%' as stock exchange reopens
Shares in the National Bank of Greece are expected to fall sharply on Monday
The Athens Stock Exchange is set to plunge by as much as 20% on Monday when trading finally resumes after a five-week closure, traders have predicted.
The bourse was shut just before the Greek government imposed capital controls at the height of the debt crisis.
Traders said they expect sharp losses as a result of pent-up trading and fears about Greece's worsening economy.
The stock exchange is due to reopen at 07:30 GMT.
Takis Zamanis, chief trader at Beta Securities, is among the pessimists.
"The possibility of seeing even a single share rise in tomorrow's session is almost zero," he said.
"There is a lot of uncertainty about the government's ability to sign the... bailout on time and for possible snap elections."
Bank recapitalisation
Shares in banks are likely to be particularly hard-hit because Greece's financial sector needs to be recapitalised.
A report in Avgi newspaper, which is close to the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, suggested Athens was asking for about 10 billion euros (£7bn) this month for bank recapitalisation.
Banks account for about a fifth of the main Athens index. National Bank of Greece's US-listed stock has fallen about 20% while the Athens exchange has been closed.
One asset manager at a Greek fund said: "The focus will be in the bank shares - they will suffer more because their investors have to face a dilution from the [expected] recapitalisation of the sector."
Greek banks will not be make a profit this year and are suffering from an increase in bad loans due to the crisis, the manager said.
"It would be realistic to expect a decline of about 15-20% at the opening of the market on Monday," he added.
Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras
Although Greece struck a bailout deal with its creditors last month, political in-fighting in Athens over the conditions could still result in Mr Tsipras calling an early election.
The Greek economy has begun to reverse the gains it was making before Mr Tsipras's Syriza-led coalition took power in January on an anti-austerity platform.
The European Commission expects Greece to go back into recession this year, with the economy contracting by between 2% and 4%.
The Greek economy was in recession for six years until 2014.
Greek shares 'set to plunge 20%' as stock exchange reopens - BBC News
joy...
- 55 minutes ago
- From the sectionBusiness
Shares in the National Bank of Greece are expected to fall sharply on Monday
The Athens Stock Exchange is set to plunge by as much as 20% on Monday when trading finally resumes after a five-week closure, traders have predicted.
The bourse was shut just before the Greek government imposed capital controls at the height of the debt crisis.
Traders said they expect sharp losses as a result of pent-up trading and fears about Greece's worsening economy.
The stock exchange is due to reopen at 07:30 GMT.
Takis Zamanis, chief trader at Beta Securities, is among the pessimists.
"The possibility of seeing even a single share rise in tomorrow's session is almost zero," he said.
"There is a lot of uncertainty about the government's ability to sign the... bailout on time and for possible snap elections."
Bank recapitalisation
Shares in banks are likely to be particularly hard-hit because Greece's financial sector needs to be recapitalised.
A report in Avgi newspaper, which is close to the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, suggested Athens was asking for about 10 billion euros (£7bn) this month for bank recapitalisation.
Banks account for about a fifth of the main Athens index. National Bank of Greece's US-listed stock has fallen about 20% while the Athens exchange has been closed.
One asset manager at a Greek fund said: "The focus will be in the bank shares - they will suffer more because their investors have to face a dilution from the [expected] recapitalisation of the sector."
Greek banks will not be make a profit this year and are suffering from an increase in bad loans due to the crisis, the manager said.
"It would be realistic to expect a decline of about 15-20% at the opening of the market on Monday," he added.
Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras
Although Greece struck a bailout deal with its creditors last month, political in-fighting in Athens over the conditions could still result in Mr Tsipras calling an early election.
The Greek economy has begun to reverse the gains it was making before Mr Tsipras's Syriza-led coalition took power in January on an anti-austerity platform.
The European Commission expects Greece to go back into recession this year, with the economy contracting by between 2% and 4%.
The Greek economy was in recession for six years until 2014.
Greek shares 'set to plunge 20%' as stock exchange reopens - BBC News
joy...
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Fast Money & Foreign Objects
Greece's stock exchange closes with a record drop
Text by FRANCE 24
Latest update : 2015-08-03
Greece's stock exchange closed Monday with a record drop of 16.23 percent on the first day it was reopened after the five-week shutdown caused by the country's debt crisis and capital controls.
The general index settled at 668.06 points with the nation's outflow-hit banks and top corporations taking a beating. The exchange's previous worst showing was in 1987 when the index had lost 15.03 percent.
The banking index on Monday lost nearly 30 percent, with the top four Greek lenders shedding the same amount, the maximum daily loss allowed.
Bourse officials said the selling spree was logical following the five-week shutdown and noted the situation could take a month to normalise.
"Pressure by sellers was high. It is logical and anticipated by everyone," stock market chairman Socrates Lazaridis told Bloomberg TV, noting that he expected the market to stabilise in a month's time.
"After five weeks of non-transacting ability, it was important to incorporate the changes that have taken place in the international environment of capital markets, and also on the local environment where there was a number of important changes," Lazaridis said.
By day's end the worst of investors' predictions that Athens stocks would sustain huge losses had been confirmed.
"The fear had been that after five weeks of forced closure, carnage on the reopen was likely, and that fear appears to have been confirmed," said Rebecca O'Keeffe, head of investment at stockbroker Interactive Investor.
"There are also increasing concerns that the Athens authorities are ill-prepared for such extreme moves in share prices."
Threat of political and economic instability remains
Trading was suspended in Athens in late June as part of capital controls imposed to stem an outflow of euros that threatened to collapse Greece's banks and push the indebted country out of the euro zone.
Since then, Athens and the European Union have agreed a bailout plan in exchange for stringent reforms and budget austerity. But implementation of the deal is some way off, keeping alive the threat of political and economic instability.
Nevertheless, the impact of Greece on the rest of Europe has been mitigated by economic stimulus measures from the European Central Bank (ECB), whose record-low interest rates and liquidity have helped prop up European equities.
"A lot of overseas investors have stopped paying too much attention to Greece," said Andreas Clenow, hedge fund manager and principal at ACIES Asset Management.
"The ECB's measures are helping to limit the negative fallout from Greece."
(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS, AP and AFP)
France 24 - Greece's stock exchange closes with a record drop
- © AFP PHOTO / ARIS MESSINIS | European stocks fell on Thursday as investors shrugged off a successful return to the bond markets by Greece four years after the country was rescued with a bailout
Text by FRANCE 24
Latest update : 2015-08-03
Greece's stock exchange closed Monday with a record drop of 16.23 percent on the first day it was reopened after the five-week shutdown caused by the country's debt crisis and capital controls.
The general index settled at 668.06 points with the nation's outflow-hit banks and top corporations taking a beating. The exchange's previous worst showing was in 1987 when the index had lost 15.03 percent.
The banking index on Monday lost nearly 30 percent, with the top four Greek lenders shedding the same amount, the maximum daily loss allowed.
Bourse officials said the selling spree was logical following the five-week shutdown and noted the situation could take a month to normalise.
"Pressure by sellers was high. It is logical and anticipated by everyone," stock market chairman Socrates Lazaridis told Bloomberg TV, noting that he expected the market to stabilise in a month's time.
"After five weeks of non-transacting ability, it was important to incorporate the changes that have taken place in the international environment of capital markets, and also on the local environment where there was a number of important changes," Lazaridis said.
By day's end the worst of investors' predictions that Athens stocks would sustain huge losses had been confirmed.
"The fear had been that after five weeks of forced closure, carnage on the reopen was likely, and that fear appears to have been confirmed," said Rebecca O'Keeffe, head of investment at stockbroker Interactive Investor.
"There are also increasing concerns that the Athens authorities are ill-prepared for such extreme moves in share prices."
Threat of political and economic instability remains
Trading was suspended in Athens in late June as part of capital controls imposed to stem an outflow of euros that threatened to collapse Greece's banks and push the indebted country out of the euro zone.
Since then, Athens and the European Union have agreed a bailout plan in exchange for stringent reforms and budget austerity. But implementation of the deal is some way off, keeping alive the threat of political and economic instability.
Nevertheless, the impact of Greece on the rest of Europe has been mitigated by economic stimulus measures from the European Central Bank (ECB), whose record-low interest rates and liquidity have helped prop up European equities.
"A lot of overseas investors have stopped paying too much attention to Greece," said Andreas Clenow, hedge fund manager and principal at ACIES Asset Management.
"The ECB's measures are helping to limit the negative fallout from Greece."
(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS, AP and AFP)
France 24 - Greece's stock exchange closes with a record drop
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
Jaw-Dropping Greek Villa Looks Like a Touch of Heaven
Monday, August 3, 2015, by Jenny Xie
All photos by Serge Anton via Designboom
At first glance, this spectacular hillside villa in western Greece looks like one of those surreal visualizations of minimalist architectural forms. But oh, it's very real. Designed by Brussels-based architect Olivier Dwek, the stark white dwelling is like an ode to the ancient island of Cephalonia, with a series of rooms, balconies, and terraces framing dramatic views of the seascape. This layered approach to creating spaces also serves to shelter the residence from strong winds.
Jaw-Dropping Greek Villa Looks Like a Touch of Heaven
taxes optional?
@Domingo Halliburton
Monday, August 3, 2015, by Jenny Xie
At first glance, this spectacular hillside villa in western Greece looks like one of those surreal visualizations of minimalist architectural forms. But oh, it's very real. Designed by Brussels-based architect Olivier Dwek, the stark white dwelling is like an ode to the ancient island of Cephalonia, with a series of rooms, balconies, and terraces framing dramatic views of the seascape. This layered approach to creating spaces also serves to shelter the residence from strong winds.
Jaw-Dropping Greek Villa Looks Like a Touch of Heaven
taxes optional?
@Domingo Halliburton
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
Cristiano Ronaldo bought his agent a Greek Island as a wedding gift
By Jacob Bogage August 3 at 2:23 PM
Remember a month ago when Greece was about to fall off a fiscal cliff into the Mediterranean Sea? Remember when it had to raise 50 billion euros ($55 billion) to pay off debts, so it decided to sell off public assets?
Of course you do. And so does soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, who decided to buy an island the country put up for sale, and gifted it to his agent as a wedding present on Sunday, according to Portuguese news Web site Move Noticias and Spanish sports news site Mundo Deportivo.
To reiterate:
Cristiano Ronaldo
according to Forbes. He's the second-most valuable athlete behind controversial boxer Floyd "Money" Mayweather.
It's not clear which island Ronaldo purchased, but Greece put up about a dozen islands up for sale, plus several mainland swaths of land, along with public utilities like its mail service, Athens' sewage company, major highways and Olympic stadiums.
A crowdfunding campaign to contribute to Greece's international bailout -- its third in five years, raised more than 200,000 euros ($219,000), which is "heartwarming," the campaign organizer wrote online.
Even more heartwarming: when the best man at your wedding gives you a island.
Cristiano Ronaldo bought his agent a Greek Island as a wedding gift
photos in link
By Jacob Bogage August 3 at 2:23 PM
Remember a month ago when Greece was about to fall off a fiscal cliff into the Mediterranean Sea? Remember when it had to raise 50 billion euros ($55 billion) to pay off debts, so it decided to sell off public assets?
Of course you do. And so does soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, who decided to buy an island the country put up for sale, and gifted it to his agent as a wedding present on Sunday, according to Portuguese news Web site Move Noticias and Spanish sports news site Mundo Deportivo.
To reiterate:
Cristiano Ronaldo
according to Forbes. He's the second-most valuable athlete behind controversial boxer Floyd "Money" Mayweather.
It's not clear which island Ronaldo purchased, but Greece put up about a dozen islands up for sale, plus several mainland swaths of land, along with public utilities like its mail service, Athens' sewage company, major highways and Olympic stadiums.
A crowdfunding campaign to contribute to Greece's international bailout -- its third in five years, raised more than 200,000 euros ($219,000), which is "heartwarming," the campaign organizer wrote online.
Even more heartwarming: when the best man at your wedding gives you a island.
Cristiano Ronaldo bought his agent a Greek Island as a wedding gift
photos in link