Is Greece at the Tipping Point?

Published: Wednesday, 7 Apr 2010 | 3:43 PM ET

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By: David Faber
CNBC Anchor and Reporter

To some, a harbinger of the market can be found in short-term interest rates—as was evidenced in the United States when spikes in near-term rates ushered in an era of financial crisis.

Given that precedent, it looks like the Greek financial crisis is widening: The country’s 6-month yield is up to 6.60 percent; the gap in the 10-year yield between Greece and Germany is now the largest in the lifetime of the euro; money is moving out of Greece to global banks or off-shore; no firm deal has been reached on an aid package, and mass protests in the country over the debt crisis are gaining momentum. (Article continues below graph.)

Before Greece’s 6-month bill rate blew out to alarming record levels, Marc Chandler, Global Head Currency Strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman, thought Greece could muddle through—but not any more.

Chandler told "Squawk on the Street" that “[Greece] only pre-financed or pre-funded this month's financing needs. It’s really next month's, but the market is not giving it the time. Every time there is a fork in the road, they are taking the wrong fork. Just today they revised lower and made it larger, the budget deficit from last year…”