Well, the Europeans are ready to turn over the hour glass again for Greece just as the sand was fully running down in an attempt to buy more time, bailout out bondholders and push into the future what none of them wanted to deal with today. There are no firm agreements but its clear from the rhetoric from Germany, the most vocal critic of the bailouts, that another round of funding (60b euros more over 2 years) will come Greece’s way with further strings attached. In terms of timing of the new aid package, Juncker said EU Finance Ministers will decide by the end of June. The ECB also is a victor in this round of Greek help as they are the largest holder of Greek debt. They meet next week on rates after May Euro zone CPI rose 2.7% y/o/y, a touch below expectations of 2.8% but still above their target rate of 2% and a benchmark rate of 1.25%. The number of Germans unemployed fell again in May but not as much as forecasted.
