by Calculated Risk on 3/29/2010 04:00:00 PM

First, from the NY Times: In Crucial Test, Greece Raises $6.7 Billion in Bond Sale

The bonds, worth $6.7 billion, were priced to yield 6 percent, according to banks that managed the sale, meaning that Greece was paying a princely 3.34 percentage points above what Germany, considered the European benchmark, pays to borrow at a similar maturity. It was also well above the rates paid by governments in Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Italy, other countries whose indebtedness has caused concern.

Since it is almost the end of Q1 ... here is a market update:

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

The first graph shows the S&P 500 since 1990.

The dashed line is the closing price today. The S&P 500 was first at this level in December 1998; over 11 years ago.

The S&P 500 is up 73.4% from the bottom in 2009 (497 points), and still off 25% from the peak (392 points below the max).


The second graph is from Doug Short of dshort.com (financial planner): "Four Bad Bears".

Note that the Great Depression crash is based on the DOW; the three others are for the S&P 500.