The Greeks Strike Again! (EUO, DRR, FXE, ULE)

In what should be a surprise to no one, hundreds of thousands of Greeks are taking part in a general strike to protest austerity measures aimed at getting the country's finances back under control. Services across Greece have been widely affected as schools and government offices close, public transportation services shut down, television and radio stations go off the air and even hospitals work with reduced staffs. As part of its deal to obtain a 110 billion euro bailout last year from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, the Greek government agreed to take steps to reduce its annual deficits. The measures taken by the government were a combination of spending cuts and tax increases that proved widely unpopular with the people of Greece. Civil servants and workers in the public sector such as teachers and bus drivers were the hardest hit by the cuts and are now the ones taking part in the general strike. The current strikes are a reaction to a further round of austerity measures that the government plans to implement in order to reduce the country's budget deficit to a sustainable level. However, many Greeks feel that they are being made to suffer unfairly for the mistakes of bankers and politicians. Last year they took to the streets in violent protests that soon turned deadly. Since things simmered down in Greece, much of the attention has focused on the troubles of other eurozone countries like Ireland and Portugal, both of which later sought bailouts themselves. However, Greece has once again become the country that seems to be the biggest danger to the European Union's stability. Rumors have circulated that Greece would drop the euro as its currency, so that it could better manage its monetary policy and its export and tourism industries would become more competitive. The rumors were denied by both Greek and European Union officials but investors have grown used to European politicians telling the public that they will definitely not seek bailouts, only to turn around and say that a bailout is desperately needed. While both Greek politicians and European officials are likely to do everything in their power to avoid Greece leaving the eurozone, the renewed strikes will put a great deal of pressure on the government. If the strikes turn into a repeat of last year's deadly riots, the Greek government may do yet another about face and say that exiting the euro is the only option if massive unrest and bloodshed is to be avoided. Investors who think that Greece will once again lead the way among troubled eurozone countries should take a look at the ProShares UltraShort Euro EUO and the Market Vectors Double Short Euro ETN DRR. If Greece does drop the euro and/or default on its debt, these two investments could see a great deal of upside. Although many economists talk about how bad things may get for Greece if it doesn't stick with the euro and tame its deficits, the pressure from the people to walk away from these problems may prove too great for Greek politicians to ignore. And if Greece goes this route, who's to say that other countries like Portugal and Ireland will not follow suit, or at least force favorable restructurings of their debts? Investors who think that all this negative sentiment is already priced into the market may want to consider the CurrencyShares Euro Trust FXE or even double their bet with the ProShares Ultra Euro ULE. Many eurozone leaders see the euro not just as a regional currency but as a symbol of European unity and the shared currency is one of the central measures adapted in order to create a sense of unity among Europeans and avoid the widespread conflicts of the past. This feeling is very strong among Europhiles and many of them will do anything to avoid anything that will weaken the eurozone. Either way, things just got a lot more interesting for investors who have been following events in Europe.