On the heels of the Dubai news a few weeks ago where their stock market is down 17% over that span, S&P about an hr ago put the Greece sovereign rating on creditwatch negative. Greece’s benchmark 10 yr bond is down 1% with a yield up by 12 bps to 5.11% (spiked to 5.17% Thanksgiving day when Dubai reaction was felt). With a delayed quote, the Greece ASE stock index is down almost 4%. Debt problems in Greece, similar to the problems in Dubai, have been well telegraphed with the response to it being the question. Will Greece be able to get their own house in order or will they reach out for IMF help or from the Euro region which specifically has a no bailout clause in its charter. I bring this up today because the Dubai news raised the debate of whether it was country specific or a leading indicator of more debt workouts of overleveraged situations whether sovereign or corporate.
