Kathianne
08-08-2011, 01:18 AM
One in the morning and some scary reading for the night:
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/08/07/u-s-downgraded-and-obama/
Contentions RE: The U.S. Is Downgraded and Obama Will Be Too (http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/08/07/u-s-downgraded-and-obama/) John Steele Gordon (http://www.commentarymagazine.com/author/john-steele-gordon/) 08.07.2011 - 9:56 AM
I could hardly agree more with John (http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/08/05/the-u-s-is-downgraded-and-obama-will-be-too/) that the downgrade by S&P of the country’s credit rating marked a “terrible day” for the United States and will prove a “colossal disaster” for Barack Obama. As John says, the Republican TV ads practically write themselves and the greatest spinmeisters in the country won’t be able to help the president wriggle free from the blame for this deeply embarrassing debacle. Philip Klein at the Washington Examiner makes clear (http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/obama-won%E2%80%99t-escape-blame-credit-downgrade) just how much of the blame belongs to President Obama (http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/08/07/u-s-downgraded-and-obama/#) and the overwhelmingly Democratic Congress of his first two years. So intent were they on turning the United States into a social democracy à la (bankrupt) Europe, that they didn’t even try to limit spending or address the skyrocketing deficits...
...But I’m afraid this credit downgrade will prove more than embarrassing to the country and to the president whose feckless arrogance made it inevitable. Europe’s debt crisis is getting worse by the day and no one knows what to do about it. As Peter Osborne of The Telegraph (h/t Instapundit) relates (http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peteroborne/100099792/in-this-grave-crisis-the-worlds-leaders-are-terrifyingly-out-of-their-depth/) the European leaders are out of their depth.
We are in uncharted waters here. In all previous financial crises, no matter how greedy and stupid investors, bankers, brokers, and industrialists might have acted, there was always the power of the state, armed with state resources, to come to the rescue. That is no longer the case. This is a sovereign debt crisis. It is the lenders of last resort who need to be bailed out now. Unless God is willing to cut a really big check, this could get very ugly very fast...
http://pointsandfigures.com/2011/08/07/the-market-is-crashing-tonight-what-should-you-do/
The Market is Crashing Tonight, What Should You Do? 6 Definitive Steps for Your Money
Posted by Jeff Carter (http://pointsandfigures.com/author/admin/) on August 7th, 2011
Pro traders should know what to do. Cut your size, trade small-and pick your points. This post is designed for the average Joe Six Pack citizen sitting at home and wondering if his mattress is better than the market to build wealth...
...There is a lot of fear out there. Understandably so. Fear isn’t something that drives stock markets higher. You are sitting there tonight, and if you are watching business channels, you are seeing stocks continue to plummet overnight in foreign markets.
What should you do?
...
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Economy-not-debt-rating-will-apf-3801408412.html?x=0
<noscript>http://us.bc.yahoo.com/b?P=rnmw4tG_R1f.jmU6TNyr6QOGRoNiJ04_fcQAAwLg&T=1c2dkfkh9%2fX%3d1312783812%2fE%3d2142203358%2fR% 3dfin%2fK%3d5%2fV%3d2.1%2fW%3dH%2fY%3dYAHOO%2fF%3d 1105214799%2fH%3dY29udGVudD0iZmluYW5jZTtyZWZ1cmxfd 3d3X3lhaG9vX2NvbSIgcmVmdXJsPSJyZWZ1cmxfd3d3X3lhaG9 vX2NvbSIgc2VydmVJZD0icm5tdzR0R19SMWYuam1VNlROeXI2U U9HUm9OaUowNF9mY1FBQXdMZyIgc2l0ZUlkPSI0NDUxMDUxIiB 0U3RtcD0iMTMxMjc4MzgxMjI3MTI0MiIgdG9waWM9IjtyZWZ1c mxfd3d3X3lhaG9vX2NvbSIg%2fQ%3d-1%2fS%3d1%2fJ%3d4547BFD1&U=12b0pvd7n%2fN%3dtZz4FUJe5h8-%2fC%3d-1%2fD%3dNT1%2fB%3d-1%2fV%3d0</noscript> Economy, not debt rating, will send markets lower
The world economy, and not just the US debt rating, likely to make stock trading volatile
Chip Cutter and Pallavi Gogoi, AP Business Writers, On Sunday August 7, 2011, 6:24 pm EDT NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. investors will have their first chance Monday to react to Standard & Poor's decision to strip the U.S. government of its top credit rating. But the bigger issues facing Wall Street and stock markets worldwide remain debt-ridden countries in Europe and concerns that the global economy is weakening.
Friday's first-ever downgrade of U.S. long-term debt from AAA to AA+ wasn't unexpected and may have little impact on interest rates. But it's the kind of news that stock markets don't need when investors are already nervous.
Even before the downgrade, the Dow Jones industrial average last week fell nearly 700 points, or 6 percent. Investors were worried because economic signals in the U.S. and overseas were pointing toward trouble:
--On July 29, the government dramatically lowered its estimate of how much the economy grew during the first quarter. It had said the economy grew at an annual rate of 1.3 percent, but revised that number down to 0.4 percent. Second-quarter growth was also weak, a 1.3 percent rate.
--European officials are trying to help Italy -- the world's eighth-largest economy -- avoid the kind of bailouts that Greece, Portugal and Spain were forced to accept to prevent them from defaulting on their debt. And those bailouts haven't solved all the problems in those countries...
...
S&P was looking for $4 trillion in budget cuts over 10 years. The deal that Congress passed on Tuesday would bring $2.1 trillion to $2.4 trillion in cuts over that time. S&P said it was also concerned about the ability of Congress to implement those cuts because of the division between Republicans and Democrats.
"Right now, the markets don't believe anybody anywhere and the uncertainty premium is very high. Since the end of World War I, the United States has been an unquestioned AAA credit, until now," said David Kotok, chairman and chief investment officer of Cumberland Advisors.
Prudential Financial market strategist Quincy Krosby said, "The rating is in essence an indictment of Congress and puts the president on the defensive. While both sides came up with a package that was short on the cuts that we needed, ultimately it happened on this president's watch. So, it takes on a very symbolic indictment of his ability to run the United States."
...
Right now dow futures at 1:15 am are down about 2.65. Hong Kong market is open and down 4%.
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/08/07/u-s-downgraded-and-obama/
Contentions RE: The U.S. Is Downgraded and Obama Will Be Too (http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/08/07/u-s-downgraded-and-obama/) John Steele Gordon (http://www.commentarymagazine.com/author/john-steele-gordon/) 08.07.2011 - 9:56 AM
I could hardly agree more with John (http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/08/05/the-u-s-is-downgraded-and-obama-will-be-too/) that the downgrade by S&P of the country’s credit rating marked a “terrible day” for the United States and will prove a “colossal disaster” for Barack Obama. As John says, the Republican TV ads practically write themselves and the greatest spinmeisters in the country won’t be able to help the president wriggle free from the blame for this deeply embarrassing debacle. Philip Klein at the Washington Examiner makes clear (http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/obama-won%E2%80%99t-escape-blame-credit-downgrade) just how much of the blame belongs to President Obama (http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/08/07/u-s-downgraded-and-obama/#) and the overwhelmingly Democratic Congress of his first two years. So intent were they on turning the United States into a social democracy à la (bankrupt) Europe, that they didn’t even try to limit spending or address the skyrocketing deficits...
...But I’m afraid this credit downgrade will prove more than embarrassing to the country and to the president whose feckless arrogance made it inevitable. Europe’s debt crisis is getting worse by the day and no one knows what to do about it. As Peter Osborne of The Telegraph (h/t Instapundit) relates (http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peteroborne/100099792/in-this-grave-crisis-the-worlds-leaders-are-terrifyingly-out-of-their-depth/) the European leaders are out of their depth.
We are in uncharted waters here. In all previous financial crises, no matter how greedy and stupid investors, bankers, brokers, and industrialists might have acted, there was always the power of the state, armed with state resources, to come to the rescue. That is no longer the case. This is a sovereign debt crisis. It is the lenders of last resort who need to be bailed out now. Unless God is willing to cut a really big check, this could get very ugly very fast...
http://pointsandfigures.com/2011/08/07/the-market-is-crashing-tonight-what-should-you-do/
The Market is Crashing Tonight, What Should You Do? 6 Definitive Steps for Your Money
Posted by Jeff Carter (http://pointsandfigures.com/author/admin/) on August 7th, 2011
Pro traders should know what to do. Cut your size, trade small-and pick your points. This post is designed for the average Joe Six Pack citizen sitting at home and wondering if his mattress is better than the market to build wealth...
...There is a lot of fear out there. Understandably so. Fear isn’t something that drives stock markets higher. You are sitting there tonight, and if you are watching business channels, you are seeing stocks continue to plummet overnight in foreign markets.
What should you do?
...
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Economy-not-debt-rating-will-apf-3801408412.html?x=0
<noscript>http://us.bc.yahoo.com/b?P=rnmw4tG_R1f.jmU6TNyr6QOGRoNiJ04_fcQAAwLg&T=1c2dkfkh9%2fX%3d1312783812%2fE%3d2142203358%2fR% 3dfin%2fK%3d5%2fV%3d2.1%2fW%3dH%2fY%3dYAHOO%2fF%3d 1105214799%2fH%3dY29udGVudD0iZmluYW5jZTtyZWZ1cmxfd 3d3X3lhaG9vX2NvbSIgcmVmdXJsPSJyZWZ1cmxfd3d3X3lhaG9 vX2NvbSIgc2VydmVJZD0icm5tdzR0R19SMWYuam1VNlROeXI2U U9HUm9OaUowNF9mY1FBQXdMZyIgc2l0ZUlkPSI0NDUxMDUxIiB 0U3RtcD0iMTMxMjc4MzgxMjI3MTI0MiIgdG9waWM9IjtyZWZ1c mxfd3d3X3lhaG9vX2NvbSIg%2fQ%3d-1%2fS%3d1%2fJ%3d4547BFD1&U=12b0pvd7n%2fN%3dtZz4FUJe5h8-%2fC%3d-1%2fD%3dNT1%2fB%3d-1%2fV%3d0</noscript> Economy, not debt rating, will send markets lower
The world economy, and not just the US debt rating, likely to make stock trading volatile
Chip Cutter and Pallavi Gogoi, AP Business Writers, On Sunday August 7, 2011, 6:24 pm EDT NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. investors will have their first chance Monday to react to Standard & Poor's decision to strip the U.S. government of its top credit rating. But the bigger issues facing Wall Street and stock markets worldwide remain debt-ridden countries in Europe and concerns that the global economy is weakening.
Friday's first-ever downgrade of U.S. long-term debt from AAA to AA+ wasn't unexpected and may have little impact on interest rates. But it's the kind of news that stock markets don't need when investors are already nervous.
Even before the downgrade, the Dow Jones industrial average last week fell nearly 700 points, or 6 percent. Investors were worried because economic signals in the U.S. and overseas were pointing toward trouble:
--On July 29, the government dramatically lowered its estimate of how much the economy grew during the first quarter. It had said the economy grew at an annual rate of 1.3 percent, but revised that number down to 0.4 percent. Second-quarter growth was also weak, a 1.3 percent rate.
--European officials are trying to help Italy -- the world's eighth-largest economy -- avoid the kind of bailouts that Greece, Portugal and Spain were forced to accept to prevent them from defaulting on their debt. And those bailouts haven't solved all the problems in those countries...
...
S&P was looking for $4 trillion in budget cuts over 10 years. The deal that Congress passed on Tuesday would bring $2.1 trillion to $2.4 trillion in cuts over that time. S&P said it was also concerned about the ability of Congress to implement those cuts because of the division between Republicans and Democrats.
"Right now, the markets don't believe anybody anywhere and the uncertainty premium is very high. Since the end of World War I, the United States has been an unquestioned AAA credit, until now," said David Kotok, chairman and chief investment officer of Cumberland Advisors.
Prudential Financial market strategist Quincy Krosby said, "The rating is in essence an indictment of Congress and puts the president on the defensive. While both sides came up with a package that was short on the cuts that we needed, ultimately it happened on this president's watch. So, it takes on a very symbolic indictment of his ability to run the United States."
...
Right now dow futures at 1:15 am are down about 2.65. Hong Kong market is open and down 4%.