A toxic brew is served: government budget cuts, a shrinking private sector, growing unemloyment and rising taxes.

"Greece’s financial crisis is bad news for National Basketball Association players seeking bigger paychecks and rent-free mansions by the Mediterranean.

The Greek basketball league has enticed more than 100 NBA players since nine-time All Star Dominique Wilkins left the Boston Celtics in 1995 for Panathinaikos in Athens. Greek clubs are known for covering players’ taxes and housing costs as well as paying multimillion-dollar salaries.

That’s changed because of the recession and after the income tax rate for athletes more than doubled, according to Marc Cornstein and other agents who represent players in Greece. Greek teams have been reducing salaries by as much as 70 percent, letting players go and cutting the amount of perks...."

Read more:

http://www.bloomberg.com...after-taxes-double.html

Investing in U.S. real estate is akin to catch a falling knife; aim for the handle with the reflexes of a cat. Japan is perhaps a forerunner to the U.S. with its 1989 peak in real estate not having bottomed yet.

A turnaround in the U.S. economy is heavily dependent on a resurgence in real-estate for a host of reasons. Unfortunately, the housing market seems to reject any medication administered to it by the Federal Reserve. Recent figures on new home sales at a 15 year low and July figures for existing home sales registering a 25% decline over last year, attest to a continual downturn in the sector.

Heed the market maxim: the trend is your friend.

"Like homeowners walking away from mortgaged houses that plummeted in value, some of the largest commercial-property owners are defaulting on debts and surrendering buildings worth less than their loans.

Companies such as Macerich Co., Vornado Realty Trust and Simon Property Group Inc. have recently stopped making mortgage payments to put pressure on lenders to restructure debts. In many cases they have walked away, sending keys to properties whose values had fallen far below the mortgage amounts, a process known as "jingle mail." These companies all have piles of cash to make the payments. They are simply opting to default because they believe it makes good business sense...."

Read more:

http://online.wsj.com/ar...575449803607666216.html

The greater the volatility in forex, the greater the participation. Look to a bumper 2011.

"Currency trading has surged to record levels in 2010, even as the foreign exchange market becomes increasingly concentrated among a smaller number of banks and trading centres.

According to the Bank for International Settlements, an average $4,000bn is being traded daily, up from $3,300bn in 2007, when the BIS last surveyed the market..."

Read more:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/...-9af8-00144feabdc0.html

Contagion watch.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The capital city Pennsylvania is broke and will be skipping this month's multi-million dollar bond payment.

On Sept. 15, Harrisburg, Pa., was scheduled to make a $3.29 million payment on the bonds it issued to build a trash plant. But, the cash-strapped city doesn't have the dough.

Read more:

http://money.cnn.com/201...ce=cnn_bin&hpt=Sbin