http://www.newsmax.com/Finance/StreetTalk/Jim-Cramer-Greece-Europe-game-over/2015/06/17/id/650992/Newsmax
CNBC's Cramer: 'It's Pretty Much Game Over' for Greece
Wednesday, June 17, 2015 01:59 PM
By: Dan Weil
As Greece and its creditors struggle to reach agreement on a debt relief package for the beleaguered nation that would prevent it from defaulting when payments are due June 30, some analysts say things will be worked out at the last minute.
But star CNBC commentator Jim Cramer doesn't see it that way. "If there really was any sort of deal, it would have been [done] this weekend," he said on the air. "If we don't get a default, it would be nice, but I think it's pretty much game over [for Greece]."
Greece needs to come up with $1.8 billion for the IMF by the end of the month, but the Greek government and its creditors are at odds over how much austerity the nation must adopt to ensure further aid.
The spat is sparking turmoil in financial markets.
The Athens Stock Exchange's main index sank another 3.2 percent Wednesday, while the yield on Greece's two-year bond has soared above 30 percent, a sign investors are more worried about a default, the Associated Press reported. In Europe, France's CAC 40 fell 1.2 percent to 4,781 while Germany's DAX was 0.7 percent lower at 10,966. Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.6 percent to 6,673.
Meanwhile, Greece's central bank issued a dramatic warning in its annual report that, without a deal, the country would face "deep recession (and) a dramatic decline in income levels" that would drive it from the euro bloc and even the EU.
"I think that Europe's paralyzed by Greece. I think it's time for the Germans, who are really running this show to say [that] enough is enough," Cramer said "The stock market there is hostage to Greece. It's time to move on."
Cramer isn't the only one worried.
In a CNBC survey of Wall Street analysts, 50 percent predicted Greece will exit the eurozone within three years, up from 39 percent in April.
"Greece trials and tribulations reflect worldwide tendencies for politicians to procrastinate and to use easily availed money not to restructure but instead to ingrain munificence," Subodh Kumar, founder of consulting firm Subodh Kumar & Associates, told CNBC.
Some think the Greek government isn't up to the task.
"The overwhelming sense of Greece’s creditors is that the government does not fully understand the institutional constraints it faces, the level of reform detail necessary for a deal and that is massively underestimating the risk and impact of capital controls," Eurasia Group analysts wrote in a commentary obtained by Bloomberg.
"Even if a Euro summit is called, it may prove too late."
