Moody’s Takes A Bite Out of Greek Banks, Again (NBG)
National Bank of Greece SA (NYSE: NBG) is trading lower this morning with Europe after news that Moody’s has downgraded 8 Greek banks to ‘Caa2’ from ‘B3’ in a fresh outlook in Greece. Other banks in the downgrade are not…
- Agricultural Bank of Greece,
- Alpha Bank,
- Attica Bank,
- EFG Eurobank Ergasias,
- Emporiki Bank of Greece,
- General Bank of Greece,
- Piraeus Bank.
In local trading, the banks were down about 7% on last look. NBG shares in New York ADRs are trading down about 7% at $0.78 in fairly active trading.
We have warned over and over that credit ratings downgrades were going to plague anything and everything inside of or closely tied to the PIIGS. We cannot expect that this is the last downgrade from the ratings agencies. Moody’s has retained a negative outlook, so don’t be shocked if or when another downgrade comes in a few months.
JON C. OGG
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. www.247wallst.com.
