Are investors worried there will be a shortage of stuffed grape leaves? Will all the Starbucks and McDonald's in Athens close down? They have been whipsawing the Dow for weeks. What gives?

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

It is all about the money owed versus the money coming in. Lot's of retired fed workers wanting their pension that they are not going to be able to pay. If Greece collapses then there are going to be some others that fall flat on their face starting a domino effect. It is just a matter of time before you see it in the US.

This is it in a nutshell from what I have read. The complete story is too long to explain it here.

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Jim

You would think, after all the attention, they would have a pretty good idea what their fiscal condition is. But one week its bad, then it looks promising, then its bad, then Germany and France promise their support, now its bad again. There's too much turmoil being produced here by a rather insignificant economic force. Then again if Europe is unwilling to cut them loose, who knows.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

Just wait until Italy falls.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

It's because every large bank in Europe is holding significant amounts of Greek dept. If Greece defaults on that debt, essentially every bank in Europe will be insolvent. At that point, European governments will have to rescue the banks. Letting them fail really is not considered an option, as there is fear the entire financial system will collapse. Does that sound ominous enough to roil the markets?

That is why it is not insignificant.

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Jim

I wouldn't mind seeing DOW 6000 again. Hell of an opp to buy.

It's because Greece is on the Euro and hence all other Euro countries are tied into their problems. If Greece had their own currency, in the fact of their fiscal problems, they could devalue their own currency, their own economy would suck, but it would have no direct effect on other countries. They can't do that when they're on the Euro. Same thing in Spain.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

That's what I keep telling myself.

I'm glad I'm 41 rather than 51 or 61 right now.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Euro breakup unlikely -- economists - Oct. 2, 2011


It's in the beer mugs. Fill 'em up!

But economists are expecting the European debt crisis to get worse before there's a resolution. And they also expect the impact of the crisis to be felt by the U.S. economy.

Two-thirds of those surveyed say a Greek default would have either a severe or significant impact on the United States, with only two calling the impact "mild."

Have there been other situations in the past like the European Union where separate countries have shared a common currency that has led to these kinds of problems. Seems like in some ways, it is a recipe for economic/political disaster. What were the thoughts about these kinds of problems when the Euro came into existence? Was it the potential for just these problems that kept some countries like the UK and Denmark (?) from adopting the Euro?

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

World Collapse Explained in 3 Minutes - YouTube

Very concisely stated! This should be a message to all the socialists as to what is at the end of the socialism line.

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

The problem is that after WWII with the rise of political correctness it became unacceptable to think outside the elysian box.

The fatal flaw in the EU is the myth that all countries/peoples etc are equal. Thus it doesn't matter who joins because we are all one big happy family. Unfortunately this is not the case. From the Germans point of view the mediterranian peoples are lazy and simply dont work as hard as they need to. (They can't say this of course - that'd be racist) They have endemic corruption and in the case of Greece flat out lied about their finances to gain entrance to the EU. (They are not the only ones) The lazy countries with buggered economies have to be supported by the non lazy ones, ie Germany, which can happen up to a point but eventually will cease to be feasible. Germany is of course not allowed to say no on account of the war so the financial prudence which would allow the EU to work (by keeping it limited to the advanced hard working countries) is thrown away and the undesireables are let in.

Thus the entrire system fails. Unfortunately the worlds banks hold large amounts of the undesireables debts - lots of stupid bankers world wide it seems, not just in the US. The US though is affected simply because it does not have Autarky. Thus we are in for even worse times than those in which we currently find ourselves.

- Peter.

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2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

So, "Too big to fail, Part II"?

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma