SEEING IS BELIEVING

Sorry for the hiatus, but I had to get my eyes checked again yesterday with a bit more work being done than I expected.  Nothing serious but yesterday was lost and today has been difficult.  I think all the probing and pushing has just worn them out.  Sooo, I'm going to take the rest of the week off and get back on Monday with something other than Greece which will or will not fall apart over the weekend.  My bet is in the "will not" category but this thing isn't done yet.  The German Parliament today approved an 86 billion Euro package but the anger with Greece is far greater than I realized so people need tread cautiously.  Of course Deutschland is as pure as the driven snow.

Thank you for your patience.

ONE FINAL SCENE IN THE LAST ACT

Well, the Greeks have been given 48 hours.  Sometimes the clock is stopped one minute before the 48th hour and that may happen here but I think this play is over by Friday but not before the final scene in acted out.

Remember that game theory routine?  If the Greekies are still playing--and I think they may be--here's what happens.  At the last minute back they come to the Euros with these lines:  "Look, it's not us, we really did agree, but the damn parliament will not accept the terms and would rather kill the whole thing.  Now, if we could just change this here and that there...I mean they are such little changes..."  It might work.  At this stage everybody just wants it done and the chance that the Euros throw up their hands and simply agree to end things is a good one.  Then of course, back home go the Greeks and back they come next week with, "You know, if we could just get this language..."

Anyway, I'm back in surgery tomorrow for the other eye which should be pretty easy.  Somebody let me know what's happening.  Should be back on Friday.  See ya (every pun intended).

OUCH!

The rout continued today...in spades.  Anything that looked like a bond got sold, leaving the 10 year Bund at 0.97 and the 10 year at 2.48%.  Emerging markets were crushed once again not at all helped by the Euros completely rejecting Greece's latest proposal with hints that there was a bait and switch going on as opposed to what Tsapris and the boys had agreed and the end of last week.  An added problem seems to be that the equities markets, against a lot of opposing opinions are sliding steadily downward obviously fear a Fed move giving even more credence to the proposition that the sky-high valuations was All About the Fed and not so much about fundamentals...or at least that is the view I find more persuasive.

As to the Greeks, whether the noise out of Europe is true or not, I'm becoming more convinced that it  makes little difference as the Euros will wait until they are fairly convinced that the Greeks have gone as far as they can--it's all political now except for the Rock Star but he doesn't count--and they will then decide whether to bail them out.  My bet is they will come up with some sort of nonsense next week and we can then find something else to worry about until the solution collapses in six to nine months.

With that settled and the debt and currency markets locked in a single direction for a while it seems, it is a good time for this up-coming break.  I have eye surgery in 24 hours to correct a problem resulting from my torn retina surgery of seven months ago.  On the bottom line, it is the kind of operation that one has to replace a lens as a result of the growth of cataracts normally no big deal these days, but in my case a special lens to correct a severe astigmatism caused by the previous surgery is to be inserted.  Don't know whether this complicates things or not but it's supposed to cure the double vision I have been experiencing.  Hope it works.  Trying to write this blog on two key boards isn't a lot of fun, so to make sure I'm ready, I'm going to take a break until next week.  I doubt I will miss much.  Any way, wish me luck and see you on Monday.  They tell me this will not hurt...ouchless is the medical term.  The things one learns