How to Season Your Portfolio With a Little Greek Opa

Sure, Greece is facing doom, and despite favorable negotiations of late, the country might just drag the entire European zone into a bank-failure debt crisis that sinks the euro. Maybe you, like a lot of investors, can't stomach the thought of buying some cheap (and probably worthless) Greek bonds — yet you still want to get in on the Greek-flavored action. Fret not, my friends. You can always find American-traded Greek stocks to satisfy your cultural need for all things Athenian. Diana Shipping: DSX You don't have to be Jackie Kennedy-Onassis to know that Greece has an amazing knack for world-wide shipping. Diana Shipping is one of those global companies that provides shipping transportation services. They specialize in transporting dry bulk cargoes, including such commodities as iron ore, coal, grain and other materials along worldwide shipping routes. Even with commodity prices going crazy, people need to eat and power plants need electricity — meaning this stock isn't likely to go anywhere, whether Greece defaults or not. Navios Maritime Partners: NMM More shipping? Why not?! Navios Maritime Partners owns and operates dry cargo vessels internationally. They move all sorts of drybulk commodities, including iron ore, coal, grains, and fertilizers, as well as chartering of its vessels under medium to long-term charters. Like Diana, they move products that are needed at almost any price point, so the probability of surviving a Greece collapse could be high. National Bank of Greece: NBG Well, well, well. How is your appetite for risk? On the one hand, you have to be somewhat certifiable to want to get in to a Greek bank stock. On the other hand, if you think the bank will survive any collapse, wouldn't the low point be the ideal entry point? While I wouldn't bet the kids' college funds on it, NBG could be worth looking at for the long run. Coca-Cola HBC S.A.: CCH Did you know Coke had a franchise in Greece? Me neither! CCH distributes its products in Europe and Nigeria, but is headquartered in Greece. Maybe the protesters and rioters will need a Coke? I would. Tsakos Navigation: TNP Another day, another Greek shipping company, right? Wrong. Unlike the first two I highlighted, Tsakos Energy Navigation moves the one commodity that everyone needs and loves to speculate on: oil. Whether prices go up or down, oil is needed everywhere yet not found everywhere. This company would be more dependent on the world not reaching peak oil rather than any specific, short-term political situation in Athens.