NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks wavered on Wednesday, with investors not sure what to make of Greece’s efforts to reach an accord needed to obtain new rescue funds.

“The situation in Greece remains a cliffhanger, as the Greek government and the EU [European Union] still have not come to agreement on fiscal spending restraints needed for Greece to receive another tranche of bailout funds from the EU,” Fred Dickson, chief investment strategist at Davidson Companies, wrote in emailed commentary.

the market has been bid up so far that any failure is going to be cushioned by the rise over the last two weeks let alone the month?

Another...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Canadian stocks edged higher on Wednesday as global stocks made moderate gains ahead of a Greek debt deal. The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 41.22points to 12,553.64. Investors awaited Greek agreement on austerity plan to avoid default.

Same article

Quote:

Late Tuesday, Greece's private creditors signaled progress on a separate, linked agreement that would cut the country's privately held debt load by 50 percent, or some euro100 billion ($131 billion).

Huh?

can't let Euro go negative, can't let Euro go negative, can't let Euro go negative

what a bunch of CRAP pigs and euro over lord trash,puke

ECB NOT YET DECIDED ON WHETHER TO CONTRIBUTE TO GREEK DEBT RESTRUCTURING - EURO ZONE SOURCES

and from earlier...
Germany to vote on one to three items regarding the Greek abilout next week
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg....


Add: What a joke. The EZ cannot decide on any issue at any time ever - but a framework is close....

And in the mean time they jerk the markets all over the place with all their bs.

Just spoke with our Greek country CFO. I guess a big decision point in just a few hours. "Caps" or I assume haircuts with private parties agreed. Austerity requirements still being debated but not politically aligned. He did not seem optimistic on outcome today.

You spoke with whom, Nutzy?

The market goes up on every rumor, yet it never retraces the ramp when the rumor is proven wrong. What a joke. Have fun in the rigged casino.

Euro down a whole 12 points now, will be back positive shortly

Eagle--this is the main reason I started this thread

Eagle, it reminds me of prices at the pump. Oil skyrockets one day, gas follows within hours. Crude FALLS, and it'll take at least a week of that price to pull the price/gallon back to where it was. Profit!

More guessing...

LONDON (MarketWatch) — British stocks erased gains to finish lower on Wednesday, as investors remained cautious in the absence of a deal on Greek austerity measures.

The FTSE 100 /quotes/zigman/3173262 UK:UKX -0.24% ended a third day in the red, closing at 5,875.9.

Investors were still awaiting the outcome of talks in Greece, where lawmakers are negotiating an agreement on a new round of austerity measures. A deal would pave the way for a second bailout package for Greece, which is needed to make a 14.5 billion euro ($19 billion) bond repayment in March.

And...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The U.S. dollar turned back down in zigzag action Wednesday, pushing the euro back towards from a two-month high as news reports challenged hopes that the European Central Bank may be the clinch to an agreement on a second bailout for Greece.

Quote:

Greece may have only three days left to arrange financing for its bond payment and avoid “outright default,” said Thomas Mayer, chief economist at Deutsche Bank.

Hey, where did the March 20th deadline go? Is it possible that the implosion of revenues has pushed things to the brink?

Hi Ram,

It was the country CFO of a Big Pharma company. We have a large enough business in the country where I would believe he is well connected.

It was a passing conversation before another meeting started. Otherwise, I would have asked more.

German deputy finance minister says we have achieved worryingly little progress on Greece since 2010

Quote:

Leaders of Greece’s fractious national unity government were on the verge of approving tough new austerity measures on Wednesday night...

There was growing consensus that sufficiently reducing Greece’s debt level, which is now at about 160 per cent of economic output, would require more than the agreed €100bn cut in private debt, with leaders’ focus increasingly turning to the €40bn in Greek bonds held by the European Central Bank – the largest of any single investor.

According to several senior eurozone officials, the ECB has not yet agreed to help a revised bail-out plan, but it was studying whether it could forgo profits on the €40bn portfolio – which would pay out about €55bn if taken to maturity – by transferring the bonds to the eurozone’s bail-out fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, at the price it originally paid for them.

Another plan being considered would have Greece buying the bonds directly from the ECB at the depressed price, using EFSF funds or bonds to pay for them. Either scheme would require eurozone governments ensuring more EFSF funds to buy the Greek bonds – which may prove politically impossible.

While senior officials at EU institutions and eurozone member states were hoping the ECB would agree to forgo its profits, which would knock as much as €15bn off of Greece’s debt load, four officials with direct knowledge of the talks said such a deal had not yet been agreed.

...

Antonis Samaras, head of the centre-right New Democracy party and the presumptive next prime minister, argued that supplementary pensions should be subject to reduced cuts. Former premier George Papandreou, the socialist party leader, raised objections to cutting the 13th and 14th monthly salaries paid as a bonus to private sector workers.

The talks were expected to go late into the night. “They’re on the way to agreeing but it will take a few hours still,” said a government official.

FT.com

Thanks Nutsy, always interesting to get info from people with connections over there.

More guessing...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks fell Wednesday as investors adopted a cautious tone as the European Central Bank considers taking a haircut on its holdings of Greek bonds.

“The situation in Greece remains a cliffhanger, as the Greek government and the [European Union] still have not come to agreement on fiscal spending restraints needed for Greece to receive another tranche of bailout funds from the EU,” Fred Dickson, chief investment strategist at Davidson Cos., wrote in emailed commentary.

This is bound to help.

Quote:

Budget revenues were found to be lagging by a considerable 1 billion euros in the year’s first month, provisional January data compiled by the Finance Ministry showed on Tuesday.

Revenues posted a 7 percent decline compared with January 2011, while the target that had been set in the budget provided for an 8.9 percent annual increase.

Worse still, value-added tax receipts posted an 18.7 percent decrease last month from January 2011 as the economy continues to tread the path of recession: VAT receipts only amounted to 1.85 billion euros in January compared to 2.29 billion in the same month last year.

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_art....