National Bank Falls as Investor Faces Hurdles: Athens Mover

By Natalie Weeks - Mar 15, 2013 2:36 PM GMT+0200

Bloomberg

National Bank of Greece SA, the country’s biggest lender, extended this week’s slide after saying an investor’s interest in covering part of NBG Group’s recapitalization needs is facing hurdles.

Italy’s Borrowing Costs Rise at Bond Auction After Downgrade

By Chiara Vasarri - Mar 13, 2013 2:39 PM GMT+0200

Bloomberg

Italian borrowing costs rose in the first bond auction since a credit rating downgrade last week that highlighted the economic risks of the country’s current political stalemate.

Greece Faces 150,000 Job-Cut Hurdle to Aid Payment: Euro Credit

Bloomberg News

By Maria Petrakis and Marcus Bensasson on March 11, 2013

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-03-11/greece-faces-150-000-job-cut-hurdle-to-aid-payment-euro-credit#p1

Greece is locked in talks with international creditors in Athens about shrinking the government workforce by enough to keep bailout payments flowing.

Identifying redundant positions and putting in place a system that will lead to mandatory exits for about 150,000 civil servants by 2015 is a so-called milestone that will determine whether the country gets a 2.8 billion-euro ($3.6 billion) aid instalment due this month. More than a week of talks on that has so far failed to clinch an agreement.

Europe's Rising Social and Political Risks

Posted: 03/11/2013 12:13 pm

Daniel WagnerCEO, Country Risk Solutions
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-wagner/europes-rising-social-and_b_2853191.html

While income inequality has been falling globally since the 1980s, it has been rising in most of Europe. The Gini Coefficient, a widely used measure of income inequality, has risen since that time not only in Eastern Europe, but among Europe's wealthiest societies.

UPDATE 1-Suffering Greece's economy shrank again at end of last year

Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:15am EDT

* Q4 GDP shrinks 5.7 pct, less than previous flash estimate

    * Slump in consumption continues, imports fall

    * GDP seen contracting by 4.5 pct this year

    ATHENS, March 11 (Reuters) - Greece's economy shrank at an

annual 5.7 percent in the last quarter of 2012, combining for a

20 percent slump in real terms

since 2008.

Greek privatisation chief quits after graft charges filed

ATHENS, March 9 | Sat Mar 9, 2013 1:00pm EST

(Reuters) - Greece's privatisation chief and a senior finance ministry official resigned on Saturday after they were charged with breach of duty over their former role as board members of a state utility.

Greece set for comeback as tourist destination

Fri Mar 8, 2013 2:46am EST

* European tourism seen up 2-3 pct in 2013

* Greece bookings rebound, Alltours sees 30 pct rise

* Emerging markets to be main driver of global tourism

By Michelle Martin and Victoria Bryan

BERLIN, March 8 (Reuters) - Tourism in Greece is bouncing back this year in an otherwise flat European market, held back by the weak economic climate, travel industry executives said.

Greece confident aid tranche to be paid, denies talks deadlocked

By Lefteris Papadimas

ATHENS | Wed Mar 6, 2013 1:30pm EST

(Reuters) - Greece is confident of getting an aid tranche due this month, its finance minister said on Wednesday, dismissing speculation that talks with foreign lenders on cutting its bloated public sector were deadlocked.

UPDATE 1-Greek unemployment falls for first time since 2008

Thu Mar 7, 2013 5:55am EST

* Jobless rate slightly down to 26.4 percent from revised 26.6 pct in Nov

* First monthly drop since May 2008

* Bailout deal may have given short-term boost to hirings-economist

* Greek unemployment still highest in euro area

ATHENS, March 7 (Reuters) - Greece's jobless rate fell in December for the first time since a crippling recession began five years ago, helped by a bailout deal that propped up companies' willingness to hire in the short-term.

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez dies from cancer

By Andrew Cawthorne and Daniel Wallis

CARACAS | Tue Mar 5, 2013 6:35pm EST

(Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died on Tuesday after a two-year battle with cancer, ending 14 years of tumultuous rule that made the socialist leader a hero for the poor but a hate figure to his opponents.

The flamboyant 58-year-old had undergone four operations in Cuba for a cancer that was first detected in his pelvic region in mid-2011. His last surgery was on December 11 and he had not been seen in public since.

Greece charges three ex-ministers over income declarations

ATHENS | Wed Mar 6, 2013 12:42pm EST

(Reuters) - A Greek prosecutor charged three former ministers on Wednesday for failing to declare the source of their wealth, the latest high-profile politicians in legal trouble as public anger rises at a political class widely seen as corrupt.

Greek court jails former top politician for graft

ATHENS | Mon Mar 4, 2013 10:47am EST

(Reuters) - A Greek court sentenced a former defense minister to eight years in prison on Monday for failing to disclose the source of lavish wealth that made him a symbol of the corruption that has plagued the country.

Once a powerful Socialist politician who almost became prime minister in the 1990s, Akis Tsohatzopoulos has been in jail pending trial since April last year as prosecutors probed allegations of fraudulently acquired wealth.

EU Opens Way for Easier Budgets After Austerity Backlash

By James G. Neuger & Svenja O’Donnell - Mar 5, 2013 1:01 AM GMT+0200

European finance ministers opened the way for looser budget policies after a backlash against austerity thrust Italy into political limbo and shattered months of relative stability in European markets.

Italy’s deadlocked election, France’s refusal to make deeper budget cuts and protests against the shrinking of the welfare state across southern Europe escalated the rebellion against the German-led prescription for fighting the debt crisis.

Steinmetz Real Estate Hires RREEF’s Papachristophorou

By Elisa Martinuzzi & Sharon Smyth - Mar 4, 2013 3:53 PM GMT+0200

(Corrects Papachristophorou’s age in fifth paragraph.)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-04/steinmetz-real-estate-hires-rreef-s-papachristophorou-correct-.html

Chris Papachristophorou, former global head of Deutsche Bank AG (DBK)’s RREEF Opportunistic Investments, is joining Beny Steinmetz Group Real Estate to run a private-equity venture that aims to invest $2 billion.

The Second Battle of Marathon

Huffington Post

Evaggelos VallianatosAdjunct professor of environmental analysis, Pitzer College

Posted: 03/01/2013 4:31 pm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/evaggelos-vallianatos/the-second-battle-of-mara_b_2792476.html

The Second World War was the most destructive and bloody conflict of all times. Large and small countries fought bitterly to the end, killing millions of humans and causing immense devastation of both nature and societies. To some degree, WWII was also a holocaust of civilization.

Greece faces bailout review, plays down public sector job losses

Sat Mar 2, 2013 2:14pm EST

* EU/IMF/ECB troika officials visit Athens Sunday

* Will check progress on bailout plan

* Minister plays down fears of public sector job losses

By George Georgiopoulos

ATHENS, March 2 (Reuters) - Officials from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund return to Athens on Sunday to assess Greece's performance under a bailout plan as the government plays down the prospect of public sector job cuts.

Russell Indexes to Reclassify Greece as Emerging Market

By Nina Mehta - Mar 2, 2013 2:43 AM GMT+0200

Bloomberg

Russell Investments, which advises funds with $2.4 trillion in assets, will reclassify Greece from a developed to an emerging market, following a four-year recession in which the country’s economy shrank 20 percent.

Greece, which was raised to developed market status by the New York-based adviser in 2001, has failed one or both of Russell Indexes’ economic and operational risk assessments each year since 2011, according to a note on the company’s website. Relegation to emerging market status will force managers to buy and sell shares to align holdings with their funds’ criteria.

Italy behind rise in eurozone jobless to record

By By Pan Pylas on March 01, 2013

Bloomberg Businessweek

LONDON (AP) — Italy's voters gave their verdict on the austerity medicine they've been forced to take when they went to the polls earlier this week. By Friday, one of the reasons behind the protest was highlighted when the country's unemployment hit its highest level in at least two decades.

UPDATE 1-Greek retailers slump for fourth year in 2012

Thu Feb 28, 2013 6:41am EST

    By Harry Papachristou and Renee Maltezou

    ATHENS, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Greek retail sales plunged for a

fourth consecutive year in 2012, dropping by more than a tenth

and highlighting the pain  public sector austerity is inflicting

on household consumption.   

Ex-Mayor in Greece Gets Life in Prison for Embezzlement

By NIKI KITSANTONIS

Published: February 27, 2013

The New York Times

ATHENS — The former mayor of Greece’s second city, Salonika, and two of his top aides were sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday after being found guilty of embezzling almost 18 million euros, or $23.5 million, in public money — a rare conviction in a case involving the political corruption that has contributed to the country’s dysfunction and economic decline.

Italy Election Impasse Negative for Credit Rating, Moody’s Says

By Kevin Buckland - Feb 27, 2013 7:03 AM GMT+0200

Bloomberg

Italy’s inconclusive elections raise the chance for prolonged political uncertainty, putting the country’s sovereign credit rating at risk for a downgrade, Moody’s Investors Service said.

Italy Renews Market Concerns as Voters Reject Monti

By Andrew Frye - Feb 26, 2013 9:24 AM GMT+0200

Bloomberg

Italy’s inconclusive election triggered renewed market convulsions over Europe’s debt crisis as recession-scarred voters repudiated budget rigor and established former comedian Beppe Grillo as a political force.

Austerity, Italian Style

The New York Times

By PAUL KRUGMAN

Published: February 24, 2013

Two months ago, when Mario Monti stepped down as Italy’s prime minister, The Economist opined that “The coming election campaign will be, above all, a test of the maturity and realism of Italian voters.” The mature, realistic action, presumably, would have been to return Mr. Monti — who was essentially imposed on Italy by its creditors — to office, this time with an actual democratic mandate.

Greece Gradually Emerging From Crisis, ECB’s Provopoulos Says

By Christos Ziotis and Marcus Bensasson on February 25, 201

Greece is gradually exiting from its crisis, with confidence building and deposits returning, even as it faces another difficult year in 2013, Bank of Greece Governor George Provopoulos said.

UPDATE 2-Greece's betting monopoly sees plunge in profit

Fri Feb 22, 2013 9:41am EST

* OPAP sees 2013 net profit down by more than two thirds

* Estimate lower than analyst forecasts

* Greece seeking to sell 33 percent stake in OPAP

* Shares down 4 pct (Updates with analyst quote, background, shares)

By Angeliki Koutantou

Qatar Said to Discuss Purchase of Resort From Greek State

By Sharon Smyth on February 21, 2013

Bloomberg business week

Greece has held talks with Qatar over the sale of the Astir Palace in a deal that would mark the first outright sale of a property in the country through the government’s 50 billion-euro ($67 billion) asset disposal program, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

Euro-Area Debt Pooling Abandoned by EU Parliament in Budget Law

By Jonathan Stearns - Feb 20, 2013 11:20 AM GMT+0200

Bloomberg

European Parliament negotiators abandoned a demand for a fast-track move toward debt pooling by euro governments at the insistence of a German-led group of nations opposed to such an anti-crisis step.

Bank of Greece, The : Balance of payments: December 2012

02/19/2013| 04:55am US/Eastern

http://www.4-traders.com/BANK-OF-GREECE-THE-1408793/news/Bank-of-Greece-The-Balance-of-payments-December-2012-16164655/

Current account balance

In December 2012, the current account balance showed a deficit of €534 million, down by 1.6 billion year-on-year.

The trade deficit narrowed by €984 million, as a result of a €627 million decrease in the trade deficit excluding oil and ships, as well as declines of €214 million and €143 million in the net oil import bill and net payments for purchases of ships, respectively. The trade deficit excluding oil and ships shrank due to the reduced import bill by €418 million or 18.9% and the rise in export receipts by €209 million or 19.3%.

UPDATE 2-Greek current account gap shrinks -only one new Ferrari

Tue Feb 19, 2013 6:53am EST

* Greek 2012 current account gap shrinks by more than

two-thirds

    * Deficit at 2.9 percent of GDP, lowest since euro adoption

    * Drop reflects falling imports and debt payments

    * Greece needs more exports to balance its payments in the

long term

    By Harry Papachristou

Hollande to Play Up Euro Recovery Prospects in First Greek Visit

By Mark Deen - Feb 19, 2013 1:01 AM GMT+0200

Bloomberg

Francois Hollande plans to emphasize the prospects of a return to growth in the first visit of a French president to Athens since Greece triggered the European sovereign debt crisis more than three years ago.

Hollande, a Socialist who won last May’s election emphasizing growth over austerity, will repeat his commitment to keeping Greece in the 17-nation euro area and press Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to forge ahead on the revamp of his nation’s economy, said a French government official who briefed reporters.

Greek Heiress Sues as Swiss Chalet's Picassos, Monets Vanish

By Catherine Hickley on February 17, 2013

BloombergBusinessweek

A Greek heiress is fighting a legal battle in Switzerland to find out what has become of a collection of Picasso, Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet, Cezanne and Degas art that she says should be part of her inheritance.

Saxo Bank CEO Says Euro Doomed as Single Currency Woes Resurface

By Mahmoud Kassem - Feb 17, 2013 10:39 AM GMT+0200

Wal-Mart Executives Sweat Slow February Start in E-MailsQ

Saxo Bank CEO Says Euro Doomed as Single Currency Woes Resurface

By Mahmoud Kassem - Feb 17, 2013 10:39 AM GMT+0200

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-17/saxo-bank-ceo-says-euro-doomed-as-single-currency-woes-resurface.html

Bloomberg

Lars Seier Christensen, co-chief executive officer of Danish bank Saxo Bank A/S, said the euro’s recent rally is illusory and the shared currency is set to fail because the continent hasn’t supported it with a fiscal union.

Victor Davis Hanson: Shrinking wealth is real enemy

Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013 | 12:00 AM

Why do once-successful societies ossify and decline?

http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/02/16/3177493/victor-davis-hanson-shrinking.html

Hundreds of reasons have been adduced for the fall of Rome and the end of the Old Regime in 18th-century France. Reasons run from inflation and excessive spending to resource depletion and enemy invasion, as historians attempt to understand the sudden collapse of the Mycenaeans, the Aztecs and, apparently, the modern Greeks. In literature from Catullus to Edward Gibbon, wealth and leisure -- and who gets the most of both -- more often than poverty and exhaustion implode civilization.

Technology whizz kid tackles Greek tax evasion

By Harry Papachristou

ATHENS | Fri Feb 15, 2013 4:18am EST

(Reuters) - Greece is pinning its hopes of boosting revenue from an antiquated tax system beset by massive evasion on Harry Theoharis, a boyish-looking 42-year-old who describes himself as an "I.T. monkey".

Coca Cola Hellenic Reports Fourth-Quarter Loss

February 14, 2013, 2:42 a.m. ET

The Wall Street Journal

ATHENS--Greece's Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Co.(CCH) Thursday reported a net loss of 45.8 million euros ($61.6 million) in the fourth quarter, as restructuring costs and weak sales in many of its markets weighed on earnings, and it warned that economic conditions in 2013 remain challenging.

UPDATE 1-Greek Q4 GDP shrinks 6.0 pct y/y, unemployment hits record

Thu Feb 14, 2013 6:19am EST

* Q4 2012 GDP shrinks 6.0 pct - flash estimates

    * Unemployment hits 27 pct, youth jobless rate at 61.7 pct

    ATHENS, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Greece's economy shrank 6.0 percent in the last quarter of 2012 from the same period a year earlier and the jobless rate hit a record high of 27 percent, data from Eurostat and Greek statistics service ELSTAT showed on Thursday.

UPDATE 1-No debt restructuring for Cyprus, EU's Rehn says

Tue Feb 12, 2013 8:47am EST

* Cyprus awaiting a bailout equal to its entire economy

* Wary of fallout, Commission rule out losses for depositors

By Jan Strupczewski and Leigh Thomas

BRUSSELS, Feb 12 (Reuters) - The European Commission is not working on a debt restructuring for Cyprus that would force heavy losses on investors, the EU's top economic official said on Tuesday, backing the island's finance minister who is firmly opposed to such a move.

Wrestling Dropped From Olympics

LAUSANNE, Switzerland—Leaders of the International Olympic Committee dropped wrestling from the Olympic program on Tuesday, a surprise decision that removes one of the oldest Olympic sports from the 2020 Games.

Associated Press

The IOC executive board decided to retain modern pentathlon—the event considered most at risk—and remove wrestling instead from its list of 25 "core sports."

Landsat 8 to the rescue

NASA prepares to launch satellite that will continue historic record of global change.

NATURE

Jeff Tollefson

06 February 2013

When Landsat 5 fell silent on 6 January, scientists across the globe mourned its passing but gave thanks for its fortitude. The satellite had lasted a record-breaking 28 years, snapping images of the changing planet from melting glaciers to burning rainforests, while its successors faltered. Landsat 6 failed during launch and Landsat 7, at 13 years old, is partially blind and has limited fuel. With the passing of Landsat 5, the future of the world’s longest-running — and perhaps most influential — set of data on global change rests with Landsat 8, which is scheduled to launch next week from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The Last Time a Pope Resigned, Dante Put Him in Hell

By Peter Coy on February 11, 2013

Business Week

It’s difficult to overstate the importance of Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to resign the papacy for health reasons. The last time a pope resigned voluntarily was 1294. The great poet Dante Alighieri was so angry about it that he put the abdicating pope, Celestine V, into the antechamber of his Inferno. In the more than seven centuries since, no pope has taken the name Celestine.

EU Crisis Seen in Worst Quarter Since Lehman

By Mark Deen on February 11, 2013

Business Week

Euro-area economic data due this week will probably show the damage inflicted by the region’s sovereign debt crisis with the worst quarterly decline in output for almost four years.

A REAL paradigm shift in education

The Washington Post

Posted by Valerie Strauss on February 11, 2013 at 6:00 am

American public education has been in trouble for a lot longer than many people believe, according to the author of the following post.

Jim Armitage: A glimmer of hope for Greece but it's still going to be a long haul

There have been real reforms made to reduce labour costs, pensions and so forth

JIM ARMITAGE    FRIDAY 08 FEBRUARY 2013

The Independent

Global Outlook To visit Athens these days is to witness the flesh-and-blood, bricks-and-mortar embodiment of an economy gone badly wrong.

Is There Hope for a Recovery of the Greek Economy?

Posted: 02/08/2013 4:10 pm

Evangelos A. CalamitsisEconomist and former director at the IMF

The Huffington Post

After five years of a deepening economic recession and growing unemployment in Greece, one may wonder whether there is now hope ("elpida") for an end to the Greek fiscal and debt crisis, the restoration of the country's competitiveness, and a sustainable recovery of growth and jobs.

European Union Leaders Agree to Slimmer Budget

The New York Times

By JAMES KANTER and ANDREW HIGGINS

Published: February 8, 2013

BRUSSELS — As European Union leaders began their 14th hour of budget negotiations after a sleepless night, Valdis Dombrovskis, the prime minister of Latvia, took the floor early Friday to address what, for his Baltic nation of around just two million people, is a vital question: Why should a Latvian cow deserve less money than a French, Dutch and even Romanian one?

UPDATE 2-Greece sees smaller deficit this year, fiscal gap looms later

Fri Feb 8, 2013 9:35am EST

By Harry Papachristou

Feb 8 (Reuters) - Greece will cut its budget deficit this year by more than expected after securing debt relief, but will need to bridge a 2.5 billion euro gap to meet its long-term fiscal targets, new budget projections showed.

Global shares, euro pause ahead of ECB decision

By Richard Hubbard

London | Thu Feb 7, 2013 3:39am EST

(Reuters) - The euro, German bonds and shares steadied on Thursday, as investors awaited the European Central Bank's policy meeting later in the day and President Mario Draghi's views on the region's growth prospects.

Euro, shares recover as European worries recede

By Richard Hubbard

LONDON | Tue Feb 5, 2013 5:37am EST

(Reuters) - European shares and the euro steadied on Tuesday, a day after a sharp selloff caused by rising political risks in southern Europe, as new data confirmed the region's economy is showing clear signs of recovery.

European political worries halt risk asset rally

By Richard Hubbard

London | Mon Feb 4, 2013 11:23am GMT

(Reuters) - Stronger U.S. and Chinese economic data supported world equity markets on Monday, while the euro dipped and Spanish bond yields rose as growing political uncertainty in southern Europe worried investors.

EURO GOVT-Political risks hurt Spanish and Italian bonds

Mon Feb 4, 2013 4:11am EST

* Spanish and Italian yields rise as political risks grow

* 2013 rally in peripheral bonds reaching stretched levels

* Bunds rebound but remain lower after late Friday selloff

By William James