Greece’s bad-debt monster is alive and kicking

Uptrend: People line up at an ATM outside a National Bank branch in Athens, Greece. Shares of two of the country’s top four lenders - Piraeus Bank SA and National Bank of Greece SA - have more than doubled. — Reuters

Greece’s banks have staged a spectacular stock market rally this year. Shares of two of the country’s top four lenders - Piraeus Bank SA and National Bank of Greece SA - have more than doubled. The possibility of a change in government has spurred the latest bump - but investors’ optimism may be premature.

Fundamentally, little has changed since last year. Back then, investors were concerned that regulators would force banks, crippled by bad loans, to raise capital.