Today, Moody’s Investor Services provided a mixed review of the EU leaders’ summit and agreement to combat the European debt crisis. “In substance, however, the communique offers few new measures, and does not change our view that risks to the cohesion of the euro area continue to rise…As we announced in November, unless credit market conditions stabilize in the near future, our ratings of all EU sovereigns will need to be revisited. The communique does not change that view, and we continue to expect to complete such a repositioning during the first quarter of 2012.” Moody’s went on to cite … …READ MORE
Tag Archives: S&P
S&P's Math: wrong, but right
After the downgrade of the United States by S&P, the US Treasury released statements criticizing the analysis and pointing out a $2 trillion error in the debt-GDP ratios. This meant that S&P erred in their 20121 projection of the nation’s debt as a share of gross domestic product to reach 93 percent versus 85 percent. Acting assistant Treasury Secretary John Bellows wrote, “(this error raised) fundamental questions about the credibility and integrity of S&P’s ratings action.” Sadly for S&P, the point is correct.
However, I encourage everyone to go to Congressional Budget Office – Home Page and do your own … …READ MORE
2012 Presidential race and S&P
What does the 2102 US election have to do with the S&P downgrade and warning?
Everything.
Since Obama announced on April 4, the president’s numbers have gone down in every poll conducted during that period according to The Hill. This isn’t surprising given that gasoline prices are at new highs and the economy is not kicking off enough new jobs to make people feel good. Gallup has Obama’s approval rating at 41% and is a tie for the lowest of his presidency.
Recently, I asked a pollster who would win between President Obama and most of the Republican field if … …READ MORE
Posted in Front Page Also tagged 2012 Presidential race, deficit reduction, Ryan plan Leave a comment
Media Appearances Today
Today at 9:50 AM ET, I’ll be appearing on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street discussing the potential for a major US dollar devaluation.
Today from 9-10 AM CT, I’ll be appearing on National Public Radio Chicago’s 848 discussing the S&P US outlook downgrade.… …READ MORE
Bad Expectations Met!
It took a week or so, but my call on stocks, the US dollar, and bonds (yield steepening) has occurred. Risk-Off Twist has manifested with disappointment and questions on QE2, the Congressional lame duck session, the G20 meetings and potentially the extension of the Bush tax cuts. From August 27th when Bernanke first discussed buying assets, the S&P rallied 17% and the US dollar fell 10%. I was looking for a pullback in stocks between 5-10%. We’ve got pretty close to the 5% yesterday and the Euro sank about 700 pts from the high.
From here, clearly the themes or … …READ MORE
EM to the Upside
Greece Cools: There are two stories out on Greece today that are influencing the markets. The first to come out on Sunday was a story indicating that Greece wanted help/subsidy from the rest of the EU on their auctions. Greece indicated that the interest rates they will be paying are too high and will cause problems. “What we are saying simply is we need the help so that we can borrow at the same rate as other countries, not at high rates which in fact undermine our possibility for making the changes and cutting down our deficit,” Greek PM George … …READ MORE
