Today Bloomberg reported that even as Greece inches closer to default, U.S. traders are more worried about missing out on a rally in the nation?s stocks.
Bullish options bets on an exchange-traded fund tracking Greek shares have risen to a record. There were more than twice as many calls than puts — a higher ratio than on funds tracking equities of Germany, Spain and Italy.
Investors are willing to take a gamble on a market that?s been four times more volatile than the U.S. this year amid a change in government and five month of unproductive bailout talks. They?ve added money to the Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF every single week since January, with inflows of almost $34 million in the past four days.
?It?s one of the more interesting situations going on right now in terms of potential moves,? said Michael Block, chief equity strategist at Rhino Trading Partners in New York. ?Folks want to capture the upside, and those calls are the blunt force way to be involved.?
U.S. investors are the biggest foreign holders in the Greek stock market, owning $5.7 billion in equity value, according to data from the Athens Exchange Group. That?s about the size of a mid-cap company back home.
You can read the whole article here.