Morning Update

The latest news out of Athens is the same as it has been for months – Athens will again come up short on funding and require additional capital. Der Spiegel, a German newspaper, is reporting that Greek Prime Minister Samaras is possibly preparing to request an additional 2 years to make €11.5 billion in cost cutting measures when he meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday and French President Fancois Hollande on Saturday.

However, the German ECB representative Jorge Asmussen said yesterday that “he backs the ECB buying periphery debt as a means to prevent the disintegration of the Euro” (ZeroHedge). Likewise Christan Democratic Union lawmakers in Germany said that they support making “small concessions” for Greece as long as they lie within the existing program. These comments appear to mark a change of heart for Germany and could mean more bailouts for Greece in the future.

In the US Warren Buffet slashed his exposure to municipal bonds by terminating CDS agreements on $8.25 billion of debt. Buffet likely closed out the trades for a loss, suggesting he only believes the market will get worse from here. Buffet still holds CDS exposure to roughly $8 billion in municipal bonds which he cannot terminate prematurely.