Greece on Monday found that it had no problem finding demand in a much-anticipated bond sale. The European Union in the past weeks had been closely watching the country and its debt problems with increasing concern. The success of the bond sale was important to the EU because if Greece had faltered in selling bonds to cover its disturbingly high debt levels, it would have been negative for the whole regional bloc.

The risk of default by Greece in the short term is now seen as significantly decreased but the country will have to reign in spending going forward to bring its debt levels into alignment with European Union standards. For now though, the success of the bond sale has generated confidence in the country’s ability to at least finance itself through 2010.

As mentioned in the latest ETF statistics report, 136 new US-listed exchange-traded products launched in 2009: 127 ETFs and nine ETNs. The 56 closures produced a net increase of 80 for the year.

The table below lists all 136 sorted by the first day the product was listed and available for purchase. The first trade may be a later date in some cases as a few products do not have any first-day volume. Also, the so-called “inception date” for many ETFs is typically recorded as being a day or two before it actually becomes listed and available for purchase.