Bailed Out - This Time For Real

It's not the fourth or fifth rumor in a long line of unfounded rumors, this time it is different: it's for real.  Although the European Union (EU) apparently had to drag Germany to the bailout table quite reluctantly, the EU got it done for Greece.  It is now officially bailed out.

According to The Guardian, The eurozone has agreed a multibillion-euro bailout for Greece as part of a package to shore up the single currency after weeks of crisis, the Guardian has learnt.

"There have been quite intensive preparations under the eurogroup. We have the ways and means to do it," said the senior official, asking not to be named because of the subject's sensitivity.

"It will be a co-ordinated approach of bilateral contributions [between EU governments] ... A bilateral contribution can be a loan or a loan guarantee. The guarantees will facilitate the kind of funds potentially needed in this context."

It is estimated that Greece may need as much as 55 billion euros before the bailout officially ends.

"This is the essential lesson that has to be learned from the Greek case," Olli Rehn of Finland, the new commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, told the Guardian (and four other European papers).

"The Greek case is a potential turning point for the eurozone," said Rehn in the interview. "If Greece fails and we fail, this will do serious and maybe permanent damage to the credibility of the European Union. The euro is not only a monetary arrangement, but a core political project of the European Union ... In that sense, we are at a crossroads."

The Greek bailout is but a small bump in the road.  The real crossroads mentioned above will come when other Euro Zone countries start asking for "their" bailout such as, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Latvia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Austria, and even the United Kingdom itself.

Trade well and follow the trend, not the so-called "experts."

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Larry Levin
larrylevin@tradingadvantage.com
Trading Advantage
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