Stephanopoulos and Son

S&P has cut Greece's credit rating to junk status, thus bringing to a head the ongoing the crisis that has been brewing for months.

Juergen Stark, European Central Bank Executive Board member, has warned that the current trend is not sustainable:

"The current trend in fiscal policies is simply not sustainable. ... The onus is now on governments to ensure that the crisis that initially affected the financial sector, and subsequently the real economy, does not lead to a full-blown sovereign debt crisis.

Averting it will require very ambitious and credible fiscal consolidation efforts. In fact, substantially stronger consolidation efforts than those conceived so far."

S&P also went on to cut Portugal's rating by two notches to A-. Thus upping the ante on the Eurozone governments to resolve this crisis one way or another.

Greek regulators have announced a ban on short-selling on Greece's stock market, following steep falls (9%) in bank shares.

Asian and European markets have fallen sharply, as it is clear that the Eurozone has yet to satisfactorily address this issue.

It is clear that the only solution (for both the Eurozone and Greece) is for Greece to leave the Euro and refloat the Drachma.

The longer this decision is put off, as a result of political posturing and fake "machismo", the greater the pain will be for both Greece and the Eurozone.

The Eurozone and Greece need to get real!