of greece .t's a major crisis we're facing, but i think what we have is the strong support of a wide majority in greece to make these changes. they want these changes. i think that's a very optimistic sign for greece and for our future. >> woodruff: prime minister papandreou, thank you very much for talking with. >> thank you very much. >> ifill: again, the other major developments of the day. the vote counting began in iraq after the country held elections for a new parliament. the nato commander in afghanistan promised to retake the taliban's symbolic home, kandahar. and president obama went after insurance companies and republicans as he pushed for final action on health care reform. the newshour is always online. hari sreenivasan, in our newsroom, previews what's there. hari? >> sreenivasan: ray suarez previews a series of stories from his reporting trip to peru. he looks at the economic boom there, a program that has halved the number of women who die in childbirth and new h.i.v. research. j

this is where we see greece heading.o you emphasized -- >> you emphasized the need for more europe. i know you have been a great supporter for the european union for decades. this is a challenge for europe and the southeastern part of europe, where greece plays a particularly important role, and you play a very important role. could you say a few more words about europe -- the european project, which is at a crossroads? also, talk about southeastern europe -- the enlargement issue, given the economic the difficulty. where do you see it going? >> if we go back to the origins of the european union as it is today, we're talking about a post-world war ii europe, where the major factor in developing a european market was the common market. the european union was pretty much a peace project. the idea was to interlink the economies in such a way that there would be no desire for w ar, as that would be catastrophic for all sides. as that would be catastrophic from both sides if you're all sides. so it has been a piece project, a

how does this relate to my country, greece?ware of the financial crisis greece has faced in the recent months, the crisis that confronted me when i became prime minister last october. after we took office, we discovered that the budget deficit was actually double. double what our predecessors had told us, told european authorities and the greek people. so our announcement of this discovery rocked investor confidence, not only regarding the finances of greece but also the soundness of currency that we share with our european neighbors. all of you understand this crisis like wall street's original crisis in 2008 risks spreadly more widely. many worry it could reignite a global financial crisis and produce a crisis 2.0. that's why in the past five days i met with chancellor merkel and president sarkozy and previously visited with gordon brown and jose louis paterro how to deal with this ongoing crisis and how to prevent it from spreading. and that is why i will meet tomorrow with president obama not only as a greek leader but also

is greece going to be able to cut its borrowing costs right now? >> i think, you know, they're hoping that magically we all find that bond investors want to buy greek debt and roll it over, just knowing that the backstop, perhaps, is probably the best. i think they'll be lucky to get away with that, that there's a lot of money that is being rolled over. and i don't know if that's enough investor demand. you know, there's lots of other things you can do as a bond investor with your money other than go and buy greek debt. so i think they'll be lucky to get away with that. >> i think it's great they're saying it won't be put into action. what's the point of having it if you're never going to use it? figure that one out. >> t it's an issue of moral hazard. the consensus opinion was that we needed to step up to the table to prove that they were serious. once they proved that they were serious, then you can help. i think that the challenge for greece is there is a certain lack of confidence that the greek government is prepared to work harder to resolve

peter eavis discusses greece's debt crisis.ia carrillo after that. >> over 1000 middle and high school students entered our documentary competition with a short video on one of our country's greatest drinks or challenge were facing. we will announce the 75 winners and show you their winning videos at student kim -- march 10th. >> hour, and is available on television, radio, and on line. you can connect with us on twitter, facebook, and you do. signup for our schedule alert e- mails at c-span.org. >> the prime minister of greece is in washington for an official visit with president obama. george papandreou was in the brookings institution with a discussion about the economy. he was introduced by the president and former secretary of state. this is about one hour and 15 minutes. >> good morning to all of you. i'm strobe talbot. welcome to brookings. welcome to spring in washington. i'm ready for that. and welcome especially to the washington diplomatic corps, which is particularly well represented here today. and i might add that

. >>> from greece, new hope for the blind. the simple act of walng down the street once a challenge, gets easier, thanks to this handheld device. >>> and from israel, it's the electric company. with tens of thousands of electric cars expected to hit the road in the next few years, one company is hoping to change the way we fill up. >>> from the different perspectives of reporters and analysts from around the globe, this is "worldfocus." major support has been provided by -- rosalind p. walter and the peter g. peterson foundation, dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility and addressing key economic challenges facing america's future. and additional funding is provided by the following supporters -- >>> hello and welcome to "worldfocus." i'm daljit dhaliwal in new york. >>> tune in to most television news broadcasts and you are likely to see a lot of coverage on what might be called the three c's. conflicts, crises and celebrities. that's left a lot of territory open for programs like "worldfocus" to explore. one area that i

how does this relate to my country, greece? you are all aware of the financial crisis greece has faced in the recent months, the crisis that confronted me when i became prime minister last october. after we took office, we discovered that the budget deficit was actually double. double what our predecessors had told us, told european authorities and the greek people. so our announcement of this discovery rocked investor confidence, not only regarding the finances of greece but also the soundness of currency that we share with our european neighbors. all of you understand this crisis like wall street's original crisis in 2008 risks spreadly more widely. many worry it could reignite a global financial crisis and produce a crisis 2.0. that's why in the past five days i met with chancellor merkel and president sarkozy and previously visited with gordon brown and jose louis paterro how to deal with this ongoing crisis and how to prevent it from spreading. and that is why i will meet tomorrow with president obama not only as a greek l

greece cannot do that. that is why this is such a difficult situation for them. getting people off of the government payrolls, people not paying their taxes. that kind of adjustment is difficult, political in nature. host: two headlines from yesterday, "deerow will continue to weaken," and "the euro is a smashing success." what is your opinion? guest: is that the weakest point it has ever been. i think it will survive, but it will survive at a big cost to the budget deficit of europe. therefore it will remain a relatively weak currency. now, currency valuations have always been relative. what is it begins to? at this point of politicians in europe have crossed a line, saying that they will effectively stand by the countries that have been troubled. they have basically said that if push comes to shove, they will bail them out, weakening the credibility of the euro, because it was never supposed to be like that. host: new york, richard, republican line. your next. caller: i have a couple of questions, first a

greece cannot do that.hat is why they are in a difficult situation of a heart not to the year they would be devalued ring by no. that means they have to do everything from fiscal cuts getting everybody often government table our people and not paying their taxes. that is very difficult to carry out because it is political in nature. >> host: "the financial times" why the rovell continue to begin and in the opinion piece, the ural has been a smashing success what is the status? >> i think it is that the year to reach this point* has ever been in its history. i think it survives but what happens it survives at a big cost to the budget deficits of europe and therefore it will remain a relatively weak currency. currency valuations are relative so is it we can again? with china or the dollar? the u.s. has problems in the dollar will begin. and vero might start to look stronger. at this point* the politicians across the line have said we will effectively stand behind a country that is in trouble. may have basical

along comes greece. really bailing out the dollar, suppressing inflation expectations, giving the fed more easy money, running room. shouldn't mr. bernanke go to the parthenon and genuflect in gratitude? >> well, he should, larry, because the european economy, remember, is much worse off than the u.s. economy. they've got no high-tech exports. germany doesn't ship high-tech goods to asia. it ships commodity dws goods to the periphery of europe. so they're down by a quarter. the european economy is sagging. greece is a place where if you take away corruption, you destroy the social fabric of society. it's a banana republic, which for a short time had a aaa credit rating. >> does that mean the euro is going -- i appreciates theagek actives. does that mean the euro is going south? euro by the way, just hit a low today against the suisse frank. david is the euro going to continue to go south and the dollar becoming more king dollar? >> the europeans, according to robert mundell want the euro at around 1.25 t

to the idea of helping greece. in brussels there is unsurprisingly tilt towards the european solution. >> putting in place a european framework for assistance as requested. we're working all of your areas and the member states in order to reach a solution. >> earlier this week, french and spanish leaders called for a special fund ahead of the main gathering. there was a not even widespread agreement on the need for an extra summit. the best that greek people can hope for is some flesh on the bones of the deal that was struck last month. a mechanism by which it might be delivered. right now that seems unlikely. everything seems so uncertain and gramm. >> let's go live to brussels, we're joined by a senior research fellow for european reform at the research center. if we do nothing, surely the values will drop further. >> you see the leaders coming to a different position on that now. it seems that they have created a kind of blocked space in which something has to give. >> what do you think that they can and should

the euro zone would never miss greece, which accounts for only 2% of its total g.d.p., but greece would surmiss the euro zone. the euro exchange rate for a revised drachma would look very unpalattable to athenians shopping for german -- "washington journal" live every day from 7:00 to 10:00 a.m. eastern. morning hour general speeches. legislative business at 2:00. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's rooms, washington, d.c. march 9, 2010. i hereby appoint the honorable donna f. edwards to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, nancy pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 6, 2009, the chair will now recognizes members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to 30 minutes and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and minority whip limited to five minutes. the chair recognizes the the gentlewoman from florid

a general strike in greece. lieu tan za airlines on strike in germany. and the french air traffic controllers are on strike. british airways saying they're going on strike. does this sound familiar? just like the 1970s before reagan and thatcher put an end to union work stopages and economic disruption. but there's no reagan and thatcher on the scene right now, certainly not in europe. instead we're witnessing the bankruptcy on the european entitlement state. and we're also seeing the parent powerlessness of european governments to stop the massive social benefits and to curb union wage hikes which these very governments themselves permitted. now, i'd like to say, this is strictly a euroland problem. but, in fact, democratic washington seems determined to follow similar policies here at home. and coddling unions is a hallmark of obama policies and, of course, we have our own grease in california and new york and elsewhere. look, raising tax rates just depresses the economy and shrinks the revenue base. gargantuan spending will never be paid for. do we he

i can imagine a better way to celebrate the independence of greece than with the prime minister of greece. [laughter] >> so prime minister papandreou comma to your lovely wife, mrs. papandreou, we are honored by your presence here today. and we are pleased that you were able to bring your extraordinary delegation from athens. now, like his father and his grandfather before him, the prime minister is leading greece through challenging times. but as i told him during our meeting in the oval office toda comma whether in good times or in bad times, the people of greece will always have a friend and a partner in the united states of america. [applause] >> thank you comma your eminence, for your very kind introduction, and for the wisdom and compassion that has always defined your ministry. archbishop demetrios marks his second decade guiding the greek orthodox church and community in america comma four decades as a bishop, and recently comma his 82nd birthday. and he is looking really good. [applause] >> i need to find out what he seeing. [laughter] >> last year comma his eminence tried to co

so it would come from the -- >> at least we're not greece. >> how high? >> right now they're going to go to 39.6. but if you look in the health care bill, we're spreading out the double tax on investment income. we're going to create a medicare payroll tax on -- >> and the average american, what do you think their tax rate is going to be, their blended tax rate? >> at the higher -- where the margin decisions are going to be made, that effective rate right now is about 32%. that number's going to go up to about 35%. >> daniel, there's a report that larry summers would step down by the end of the year. before we get your reaction to that, our own karen finerman did sit down with summers i think a couple months ago, maybe a month ago. this is what he had to say about the issue. >> does it matter to you what job you have to have your economic voice heard? i mean, let's say ben bernanke decides he's going to go off -- >> i'm not going to go there. i like what i'm doing. i feel like i have a chance to make a difference by thinking about economic questions and m

stories about how greece and germany are in a spat. how the french are calling the greece names. stories about portugal's a tough situation. stories about how spain could be next on the trouble list. and what happens? stocks get knocked down. like they got knocked down two days ago, ahead of the house vote on health care. this time it's for more reasons. now, it is true that when the euro falters, the dollar goes higher. and when the dollar goes higher, it does hurt the ability of some of our international companies to export goods. and it hurts the translation back. when they get into stronger dollar, they have less to show for it. but as i promised you the other day, i need to interpret stock prices through the lens of earnings, not the health care plan or the strength of the dollar. we simply don't have enough correlations that really matter. instead, there are far more important forces that get obscured by this pan of grease. and i'm not going to let them remain getting obscured. let them remain hidden from you any longer. first, there's the force of employment. greasy employ

to ensure that greece does not go bankrupt and save the credibility of the europe. today it seems a solution has been found by france and germany, meeting on the sidelines of the summit they came up with a plan that is a combination of both the u.s. and imf, international monetary fund, support for greece should it need it -- both eu and i m f support. i spoke to our correspondent who is at the summit in brussels and she gave us details of the deal. >> at the beginning of the day there was a lot of anxiety as to whether or not the deal could be done. we now have had first sight of the draft that has been put together by france and germany. other members of the year rose on will consider the document tonight. we expect them to approve it because the anxieties have been so high that the eu had really had to be seen to act to bolster of greece. this is a real breakthrough because the rubble process, german chancellor angela merkel has been making very strong voices is that she was not up for this and any kind of action would be seen as a last resort. on that, though, s

maria bartiromo reporting today from london in the midst of new talks of an aid package for troubled greece. i'll have the views from the other side of the pond and talk about investing in europe and how the economy is doing here. should it be part of your portfolio and just how do you do it? my conversation with one of the most powerful women in business pepsic yoe ceo indra nooyi. where she sees profits up. how burberry keeps up with the times. the "wall street journal report" begins right now. >>> first we have the day's headlines. >> thanks very much. here's a look at what's making news as we head into a new week on wall street. in a new move to boost the sagging housing market, the federal government has a bold new plan to help homeowners. it will include initiatives to refinance loans and get homeowners who owe more than their house is worth into new government-backed mortgages with lower payments. it would also temporarily reduce the payments for borrowers who are unemployed and looking for a job. and it will also encourage lenders to write down loan balances to help lower monthly pa

it is precisely because greece has not respected the rules of respect that greece is now facing difficulties and that there is a difficult adjustment it has to make her co. >> thank you very much. >> mr. president, thank you. could i just ask it perez question with respect to the storage of data which the german constitutional court has ruled on early in the month saying that it was nolan voigt to store code medications data but it is still unclear to what extent unsupervised data storage and accessing data is compatible with human rights. e.u. directives on the storage of data. or the catalog of fundamental rights in the e.u. treaty must come into force there. should we not check whether the catalog of fundamental rights in the treaty is correct with respect to provisions? >> thank you her co. >> first of all it is a fundamental right in article viii of the european charter of fundamental rights. thanks to lisbon treaty we can now establish a copper has a framework for the protection of personal data are co-this is essential to protect the privacy of our citizens to insure a common approach

it is precisely because greece has not respected the rules of respect that greece is now facing difficulties and that there is a difficult adjustment it has to make her co. >> thank you very much. >> mr. president, thank you. could i just ask it perez question with respect to the storage of data which the german constitutional court has ruled on early in the month saying that it was nolan voigt to store code medications data but it is still unclear to what extent unsupervised data storage and accessing data is compatible with human rights. e.u. directives on the storage of data. or the catalog of fundamental rights in the e.u. treaty must come into force there. should we not check whether the catalog of fundamental rights in the treaty is correct with respect to provisions? >> thank you her co. >> first of all it is a fundamental right in article viii of the european charter of fundamental rights. thanks to lisbon treaty we can now establish a copper has a framework for the protection of personal data are co-this is essential to protect the privacy of our citizens to insure a common approach

prior to the athens olympics, so many voices at greece would fail. but we pulled off one of the most secure and successful games in history. today, we will be using this legacy to revamp athens and our public administration. and so we will overcome this new challenge and we will do it with the cooperation of our partners in europe and america who have stood with us on so many vital tests. for this new crisis is a moment of great opportunity for greece. a chance to modernize and revitalize its governance and development model. for europe a chance to become more fully integrated we're talking now about more

they think it's sort of over now for greece.hey are waiting to see what the credit markets are going to say, if they believe in this plan or not. but the fact is, people are trying to find out who is the next greece? people are looking at spain, portugal and italy. it's very important to say that this safety net that the euro zone is building for greece is going to be valid and in the same format to any other euro zone country. so this is the foremost of the bailout to any of these countries having that problem in the future. >> yeah. we'll see if that mechanism works and if they actually ever have to put it in full effect. carolina, thank you for that. good reporting this week, carolina cimenti in brussels. got any questions? squawk@cnbc.com. >>> still ahead, we'll get some news outside the world of business. at the top of the hour, a squawk triple play, guest host tony crescenzi, dan greenhaus and patricia chadwick all join us for a round table. you don't want to miss it. national car rental knows i'm picky. so, at national, i

on top of the sins of greece, we have been hard-hit by market speculation in greece. and i'd like to hear you say a little more about that in the g20 context. are you going to put forward any initiatives to establish clear rules with respect to uncovered purchasing -- naked purchasing of credit default swaps? >> it's important to say it comes from excessive depth. probably there were also speculative attacks but because they saw there an opportunity. now, you have to support greece. greece has now announced very important measures and we fully support those measures. at the same time, we have to look to the broader issue. i already said we will examine closely the relevance of banning purely speculative nature of credit default swaps. the connection of transparency of regulators particularly on access to information on these practices also deserves to be raised. also in the g20 and in other fora also bilaterally. last year the commissioner organized a meeting with the regulators to see what we can know about the action of some of these speculators against the sobering

face the music on greece now or fear the impact on the euro later. greece, you can tell it immediately. the markets at this hour, green arrows across europe and asia. wall street try toes keep its rally alive today. picked up steam yesterday, didn't it, at 100 as "squawk box" begins right now.

now we are focusing on greece. we still may never invest there, but we want to go where less people are looking. we want to take advantage of the fact that things are being sold at indiscriminate prices. >> there was a lot of talk, gentlemen, that perhaps there should not be one currency for so many countries, that this was a test for the euro. that's one thing that had people fleeing europe. do you think one currency can govern over a multitude of countries? >> i do. they created it for a season -- to be more competitive in the global economy. now the first test is under way. they have to find a way to bail out greece and the other -- >> portugal, italy, spain, et cetera, et cetera. >> according to the imf, suggests to me that the system is broken. we as the united states have a common currency and also a common monetary policy and we are willing to bail out one another, like it or not, through washington. >> yeah. there hasn't been a lot of love. you have to admit that. there is not a lot of love for the bailout.

greece is facing difficult challenges. yesterday as part of his four-day visit to the united states, the prime minister, george papandreou, delivered an address at the brookings institution in which he described those challenges and emphasized the important royal the united states can play in ensuring that global speculators do not take further advantage of what remains a very fluid situation. america and greece must stand together to ensure that the global economic system is restored, to support european democracy and to foster peace and prosperity around the globe. we are strong allies and up to the task. in that spirit, our country today congratulates greece on the celebration of its independence and looks forward to strengthening our mutual ties in the days to come. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from virginia. mr. connolly: thank you, madam speaker. i now yield five minutes to my friend, the gentlelady from new york, mrs. maloney. the speaker pro tempore: the ge

of course, greece, but the notion of greece, something's going to happen, pretty much everyone believest the stencil of help is what bothers people. is this going to make moral hazard go more global? these are key issues. rates are up on the week and curves are steeper, but not the steepest it's ever been, but still wide levels. what's that mean in english? all rates are going up, certain rates are going up faster. the dollar's having a great week, even with the down day. and everybody's talking about the swaps being negative. yes, seven-year swaps, ten-year swaps, 30-year swaps have been negative for a while. all three of those maturities are negative. what does it mean? it's complicated, but the long and short of it is, if everybody feels their backstop, you're going to see unusual pricing going on in many different markets. mark haines, back to you. >> rick santelli, thank you, sir. dow closing in on dow 11,000. we're 110 points away right now. the dow and s&p on track for their best first quarter in over a decade. the latest market action calling for a market triple play. on the tea

obviously, cyprus has relationship with greece. now that has been, i have been a proponent of this and this was a major change, as you remember, and policy 10 years ago increase when we said we had locked the possibility of turkey being a candidate. and the we said we change that policy and said, make turkey a candidate and have full capability of becoming a member of the european union. saying that that in fact would be a stabilizing for our region. that would be important message for the world as a europe is bringing in a country which is predominantly muslim. and showing that the values we share have nothing to do with what religion we may believe in. and thirdly, in doing so we would solve problems such as the cyprus problem, but also issues that have to do with bilateral relationship in greece and turkey. so i am continued to be strong opponent of this proposal, and i do hope that a meeting with the prime minister of turkey we will be able to make more moves and issues, that have be lead us and held us back over the many years

organizations in greece, his continued work to pull together the bonds between greece and the united states was remarkable. he was someone who was keenly interested and very effective in advocate a wise american policy towards gre. ce, cyprus and towards the ecumenical patriarch. an extraordinary individual. he will be missed. in all of his endeavors, he had the support and the love and the raw strength of his wife angela, who was a wonderful, wonderful worth and of course his daughters denise and joan, have continued the tradition of service and making the community a better place. his son george jr. has a proud name, and he carries it proudly. and of course his grandchildren are remarkable, too. i think that the only way to end these few words for a great gentleman is to recall the words of another greek 0 who said that the bravest of the brave are those who see both the glory and the danger and go forth to meet it. george benechia said that, as an airman, as a citizen, as an american who used his opportunity to help others. mr. president, we miss this great gentleman, and we're ju

it is a test of endurance and disciplined for greece.y happy to hear you speak of the g20 as a group in which the question of swaps will be debated. on top of the grease we have been hard hit by market speculation increase and i would like to hear you say a little more about that in fudgy 20 context. are you going to put forward any initiatives to establish clear rules with respect to uncovered purchasing, naked purchasing of credit-default swaps. >> it's important to say it comes from excessive debt. there will probably speak to that attacks but because they saw an opportunity. now, we have to support the increase. greece has announced very important measures and we fully support those measures. at the same time we have to look to the broader issue. we will examine closely the relevance of banning purely speculative credits redefault swaps of sovereign debt. the question of transparency between regulators particularly on access to information on these practices also deserves to be raised. also in the g20 and another bilaterally. last fr

it is precisely because greece has not respected the rules of respect that greece is now facing difficulties and that there is a difficult adjustment it has to make her co. >> thank you very much. >> mr. president, thank you. could i just ask it perez question with respect to the storage of data which the german constitutional it is still unclear to what extent unsupervised data storage and access to data is compatible with human rights. no information is given on the storage of data in the eu treaty must -- and the eu treaty must come into force there. should we not check whether the catalog of fundamental rights is correct? >> thank you. >> it is an article states of fundamental trigger we now have a framework for the collection of personal data. this is essential to ensure a common approach to all data processing activities within the european union since the procedure also applies for a third pillar areas. we must also ensure a fundamental rights of european citizens continue to be protected. a european and united states agreement on personal data protection could be important and we're

greece is a gift. greece brings down the euro. that drives up the dollar. that holds down inflation. that gives the fed more open field running plus profits. dave kelly, i just want to say, david, i was reading your notes from your report this morning. this is really as good of stuff i've seen from anybody. i hope people read your stuff. you talk about price setting regarding the various health care sector. give us your thoughts on price setting. obviously from prices often come profits. >> for the moment it looks like everybody's basically punted here in trying to control pharmaceutical costs, insurance costs. i'm not seeing a lot of price control in this. i'm not seeing a lot of control of consumption either. i think the big end game apart from the increase in people covered is we're going to see higher overall health care spending in the u.s. economy. that doesn't stop the economy from growing. it's basically a choice we're making as a society pip think the u.s. already leads the world in terms of health care spending per person. i think that lead is pro

the problems in greece were not caused by speculation. it was mainly caused by not respecting the european framework. namely, the excessive debt. of course, it may happen that speculator is acting against the sovereign debt of this country. -- that speculator is -- speculators act against a sovereign debt of this country. there is a problem -- program a solid derivative markets -- there is a program of solid derivative markets. beyond the systemic response, something is needed on credit

. >> prime minister, i am from greece. greece has only agreed to fight resulted financial problems and this has caused great deal. is it time for you and not only for e.u. members to do its bit in order to protect the solitary of e.u., or even the peace in europe, are you willing in eurozone to take initiative to help greece and other members of e.u.? just remember to remind that at the end of the day, the only thing that greece is to bar with the same interest rate and other countries. thank you for. >> let me first do with this country on international just action because i think it is important to understand that under the existing fall in countries like britain, estonia and new zealand, there's a facility for a private citizen to take an arrest warrant out to a magistrate against anybody who is potentially accused of crimes under which there is universal jurisdiction. and we have published proposals, and as it were i have got to correct you on this. we have published proposals to change these laws. we have set a consul

that is what happened in greece, it was very demoralizing. we can avoid the greeks situation, but if we do nothing we will head down the road. >> thank you, charlie parker. our political counsel joins us now live from westminster to get a flavor of the politics of all of this. i suppose this is all political. these men have their voters always in front of them. but this one, more so than most. >> absolutely. alistair darling has not got massive money to give away to voters as he would like to in this stage of the electoral cycle, but nevertheless i am sure we will see some sweeteners by way of enticement to vote labor. people have been warned that there might be new attempts to lure first-time buyers on to the first rung of the housing market. it will be a political budget. we will hear much about how the labor government is the one they can encourage growth and protect the a government -- the recovery. that will be the argument, other governments will bring in too many cuts, too soon, putting a fragile government at risk. >> charlie parker w

in other words, goldman tax allegedly provided greece with a loan by another name. the story, however, does not end there. following these transactions, goldman sachs and other investment banks underwrote billions of euros in bonds for greece. the question being raised include whether some of these bond offering documents disclose the true nature of these swaps to investors and, if not, whether the failure to do so is material. these bonds were issued under greek law and there's nothing necessarily illegal about not disclosing this information to bond investors in europe. however, at least some of these bonds were likely sold to american investors so they may, therefore, still be subject to the applicable securities law. while qualified institutional investors, q.i.b.'s in the u.s. are able to purchase bonds like the ones issued by greece and other securities not registered with the s.e.c. under the securities act of 1933, the sale of these bonds would still be governed by other requirements of the law. specifically, they presumably would be subject to the prohibiti

what about credit problems and greece? and, oh, yeah, there's the political issues out of washington d.c. these things are weighing on investors. that's why despite good earnings the stock market has been stuck year to date, susie. >> susie: i'm sure a lot of your clients are asking you about the impact of the debt ÷ and the ripple effect on our markets and our financial system. how concerned are you? what are you telling your clients? >> well, i think first we have to acknowledge is that there are more bad debts out there. greece is just a reminder of that. bad credit. and while we believe that the stronger countries of europe will come together along with perhaps the i.m.f., to give greece the band ates they need, there will be other problems that crop up from time to time. and that means we're going to have a sub par recovery. a recovery but slower than usual. >> susie: what would that mean for the markets? >> that means the markets are probably going to be two steps forward, one step back. not the kind of straight-up p

six years of churning through iran, turkey, greece, finally italy. >> i came on a ferry from greece. i hid under a lorry, hanging on for 40 hours with no food, just a bottle of water. it was very difficult and i was very scared. >> he lives for now in this center for boys like him, all under 18, 5 new afghan boreas arrive every week and get a safe place to -- five new afghan boys arrive every week and it is safely to sleep, but don't get to stay. the next stop for many is calle and a desperate race for food handouts. it's no place for a child. where are you from? >> i'm from afghanistan. >> how old are you? >> i'm 13 years old. >> where you want to go? >> i want to go to england. >> why? >> because it's a good country. >> his last challenge on this risky journey is hiding in a lowry on a cross-channel ferry. a dangerous act fueled by an unshakable belief that somewhere life must be better. >> it's no problem motivating these boys for class. the 16-year-old and his friend, say it's one of the best things about being in britain. feeling safe. is it a flat eastern afghanistan when the t

the fact that there does seem to be an imf/eu plan to aid greece, that gave a relief rally and fund buying after that. we saw gold prices and gold etfs rallying as a result. keep in mind when you look at the continued uncertainty about the euro zone and the fact that there may be centralbacks that fear the dollar and the euro, gold may be seen as a replacement currency. we are also seeing rallying. some traders say on that score. in terms of the oil market, not much action at all related to south korea. it looks like oil prices may be poised to close below $80 for the week. back to you. >> thank you very much for that. up next on "street signs," a prescription for profits, how to make the money you're saving for health care work for you now. "street signs" will be back in a moment.

the whole focus has been on greece. if you're to see who is really underneath the radar there in terms of who is in jeopardy, who might it be? >> i don't think anybody is under the radar screen any more. you have understand the process. anyone who own os that debt has to sell it and then, of course, they have to sell the currency, as well. so, you see a pretty rapid move from action of a downgrade to the currency action and bond action. so, obviously, spain at 20% unemployment approximately, they have very serious problems and that was underscored by the fitch commentary on portugal. it's the ability to pay the debt is really the problem and i think that's why it continues to cascade and be a dominant thing. >> greece will also see a downgrade? >> i don't know if it's -- could it increase any more? >> they're in bad shape. >> i have to get jeff papp, thank you for being so patient, jeff. my old and dear friend fred burke steen, i love him, he said the same thing for 35 years. a cheap dollar will solve all our manufactur

do you have offices in greece?an products and services throughout the world. as you point out, one out of five manufacturing jobs is tied to that. when service companies like mr. joerres' have a surplus they sell overseas, it has huge economic impact. we are looking at three pending trade agreements with colombia, panama, and south korea. we are seeing other countries ahead of us -- canada, the eu. that would put us at another competitive disadvantage. do you support those trade agreements, opening those markets for u.s. service and production companies? >> did you for your question. i support, in general, the idea that we should have free and open trade, and also the idea that it has to work both ways. when we open our markets to companies in other countries, and to other countries. we want to make sure that we have access to their markets. we want intellectual property agreements that make sure we have a level playing field, to the extent that is possible, in which our companies can compete. and so it does work b

this is a report about greece. the greece bail-out is falling apart. markets tanked on the news. another story said if spain goes into default, the whole world goes into default. not a surprise if you watch this show, because we have been saying that. any of the pieces fall and it's a dom mindomino. last week i told you a story that barely got any news. moody's said that america may lose its triple-a rating. moody's said u.s. debt could test triple-a rating. that is a bad story. that means we won't be able to pay the interest rate. a small line at the end of the article that got even less attention. i even missed this one on the first time through. it's incredible. have you heard anyone else focussing on this, even on moody's? moody's says we could test triple-a rating. but now let me show you what it would require to fix it. fiscal adjustments of a magnitude that in some cases will test social cohesion. let me translate. fiscal adjustment. not talking about healthcare and education. we're not saying off right to education. here is more free stuff. tha

this is a report about greece. the greece bail-out is falling apart.markets tanked on the news. another story said if spain goes into default, the whole world goes into default. not a surprise if you watch this show, because we have been saying that. any of the pieces fall and it's a dom mindomino. last week i told you a story that barely got any news. moody's said that america may lose its triple-a rating. moody's said u.s. debt could test triple-a rating. that is a bad story. that means we won't be able to pay the interest rate. a small line at the end of the article that got even less attention. i even missed this one on the first time through. it's incredible. have you heard anyone else focussing on this, even on moody's? moody's says we could test triple-a rating. but now let me show you what it would require to fix it. fiscal adjustments of a magnitude that in some cases will test social cohesion. let me translate. fiscal adjustment. not talking about healthcare and education. we're not saying off right to education. here is more free stuff. that

that, plus greece is certainly weighing on the euro today. that break below 1.35 is now looking increasingly convincing, and from a technical point of view, that is a very, very big story. so, keep an eye on that one. there's a lot of guys over here telling me you could look for a 1.20 handle very, very soon on euro/dollar. so, just bear in mind those kind of figures when you run the numbers on the kind of profitability figures the u.s. companies are producing at moment and the number of stocks look very, very different. the uk is another story to watch. we're watching alex the darling, the finance minister on his feet in the house of westminster, the house of parliament's at westminster, laying out the budget. he's cut his 2011 gdp forecast and also cut borrowing requirements for the uk. now, this is kind of a false storm really, here. we're waiting for the election to kick off, and after that, we'll get the real budget here in the uk and it's likely to be considerably harsher on just about everybody. mark haines, over to you. >> thank you v

this is a report about greece. the greece bail-out is falling apart. markets tanked on the news. another story said if spain goes into default, the whole world goes into default. not a surprise if you watch this show, because we have been saying that. any of the pieces fall and it's a dom mindomino. last week i told you a story that barely got any news. moody's said that america may lose its triple-a rating. moody's said u.s. debt could test triple-a rating. that is a bad story. that means we won't be able to pay the interest rate. a small line at the end of the article that got even less attention. i even missed this one on the first time through. it's incredible. have you heard anyone else focussing on this, even on moody's? moody's says we could test triple-a rating. but now let me show you what it would require to fix it. fiscal adjustments of a magnitude that in some cases will test social cohesion. let me translate. fiscal adjustment. not talking about healthcare and education. we're not saying off right to education. here is more free stuff. tha

now we're on the page with greece. we're talking about greece, but there was in finland. he argues that the pieces are in place technically, but now a political decision is needed. european leaders are scheduled to meet tomorrow. now you know what we're talking about. go ahead. >> let's take a look at today's u.s. economic calendar. at 7:00 eastern time, weekly mortgage applications. then coming up at 8:30 eastern, february durable goods. economists predict durables likely climbed about 0.7% last month. later in the morning, we're going to get new home sales. they take center stage. a rise of 1.9% is expected. that report from yesterday, as carl mentioned, showed a third monthly decline. i think the numbers were up 10.8% from a year ago. >> also at 10:30 this morning, pay attention to weekly inventory. yesterday, inventories surged in the latest week raising concerns about the demand recovery. today's numbers from the government are expected to show crude oil stocks rose, as well, while gasoline and distillate stocks decline. oil is off below 81 to 80.56, 1.35 in part bec

we're waiting for news on greece. they're beginning to begin now in advance of the summit that is going to take place over the next few days between the european leaders. today kind of seems to be a risk on trade for that one. we're still waiting, still watching. greek banks are up very, very nicely today. there is some sense maybe we'll get a deal done. the germans, though, still seem to be incredibly intenseient on this story. we'll show you where we are. we're off our highs, to give you a lie of the land. we're up by around half of 1%. the euro is trading still around this, 135 level. seems to be a key line in the sand for the market. we broke it a little earlier. we popped it up a little bit off our lows but the euro is still down by .3. the other story i want to make you aware of today, one of the world's biggest carmakers, volkswagen is showing values of around 4.5 billion euros. this is effectively to pay for porsche which is bought a while ago in that acrimonious dispute and effectively to preserve its credit