On Friday, shares of National Bank of Greece (NBG) were halted for trading the last print of $0.16 a share.  This stock once changed hands at $700 a share!  I struggle to put this in perspective-I am just not sure what the comparison is.   After all, Lehman was a much bigger fail, with respect to raw numbers, but as for being the premiere financial proxy for an entire nation, this is the National Bank of Greece.

I am not sure if the news coming out of Greece will begin to influence our markets again.  Once terror slips from the front pages, the world will have to deal with European nations that are in trouble again.  Yes, you can kick the can down the road, but the can gets heavier and the distance gets shorter until it doesn’t budge.

Perhaps the scariest statistic that I’ve read is about Greek sex workers.

According to a new study, Greek sex workers are charging on average $2.12 for thirty-minute sessions; many are engaging as sex workers in exchange for food.

In the meantime, the Greece Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is failing further into a recession.

In addition, Italy has had its share of mounting problems; along with Portugal that just announced it’s going back to some of its old lavish pay programs, including two-month bonuses.  But they don’t have the money.

Recently, Congress joined with President Obama to ease back from provisions in sequestration because everyone knows America is flush with cash.  Europe probably missed a golden chance for real reforms.  Now, it’s dealing with terrorism and a migrant crisis that will squeeze budgets even tighter.

Moreover, there’s no doubt that Greece will come to regret not facing itself with tougher love.  Its efforts to create soft landings after decades of profligate spending and promising must come home to roost.  The effort to portray themselves as a rich and successful nation will mean waking up one day to find the barbarians are inside the gates- and it’s them.

Today’s Session

Stocks look to open slightly higher but without much conviction as the experts try to spin Thanksgiving and Black Friday retail results.  There is no doubt the numbers were less than hoped for but whether it is because folks began shopping earlier remains to be seen.  Today is Cyber Monday and there can be no excuses if it comes up short of expectations.

According to ShopperTrak Thanksgiving and Black Friday generated $12.1 billion sales which are lower year over year while online sales surged 21.5% on Black Friday from a year earlier according to IBM Watson Trend.  With advancements in smart phone technology fewer people need to wait until Monday to catch cyber sales opportunities.  Still, today has to be big for the retail space which has been in a rut.