Want a deal on a Greek bond?

The consensus in the economics and finance community is that Greece will at some point have to default on some of its bonds, the only questions being when and how much.  Not so fast, says an NYT story earlier this week.  It turns out that hedge funds are buying large amounts of Greek bonds that days ago were trading at 36 cents per euro of face value.  The anticipated bailout deal will lengthen maturities that will be worth almost twice as much.  About 30 percent of the bonds that are involved in the deal were acquired since July 21, presumably by people who were well aware of the riskiness of the investment.