Credit ratings agency Moody's Investors Service downgraded Britain's government bond rating one notch from the top AAA to AA1 Friday, citing weaknesses in the economy's medium-term outlook. Moody's said "subdued" growth prospects and a "high and rising debt burden" were weighing on the British economy.
Borrowers beware. If you miss a payment on your car loan, don't go parking it in Ghana thinking it's safe: The arm of the repo man is really long. That was news to the Argentinean Navy, which got a shock this month when authorities in Ghana seized its flagship, the ARA Libertad.
When Greece defaulted on its government bonds in March, it was the first country of any size to take such a step since the great Argentine default of 2002. It won't be the last.
Rising Spanish bond yields: If you've heard those four words in the news recently, you may not have paid much attention. But that phrase foretells a potential crisis that could swamp America's fragile economic recovery.
On Friday, Greece reached a deal to "restructure" its national debt downward by about $133 billion. That's the biggest sovereign restructuring in world history. But don't worry. According to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, it's no big deal for the U.S.
Many European nations have deficits that make the U.S. look thrifty, and over a year after their problems came to light, they're still holding the worldwide recovery back. But because they share the euro, normal solutions aren't available, which means the EU must bite the bullet and accept an orderly default, or watch matters spiral downward.
The European debt crisis is back: Portugal is in political turmoil, and may need a major bailout, and Spain may too. But the E.U.'s strong healthy are rebelling against propping up their weaker neighbors. The real issue, though, is that the E.U. hasn't yet addressed the fundamental flaw built into it at the euro's creation.
The Treasury has to find buyers for trillions of dollars in new bonds needed to fund the federal deficit. It hopes average citizens will pony up and invest in some $337 billion worth. But for a host of reasons, "safe" T-bonds might not be a winning investment for you.
Standard & Poor's downgraded Ireland's debt rating by one notch on Wednesday due to concerns over possible increased capital requirements by the country's banks.
The bank now says positive trends in consumer spending, employment and the stock market will likely boost U.S. economic growth higher than the 3% most analysts had previously predicted. Deutsche's chief equity strategist is predicting a 23% rise in the stock market for 2011.
When some new members of Congress recently said they oppose raising the U.S. debt limit, it triggered warnings of "catastrophic consequences." Indeed, the result wouldn't be pretty. But here's what's at stake as the country's debt burden swells every year.
The Federal Reserve is doling out billions to buy bonds in hopes of keeping interest rates low and stimulating the economy. However, several powerful forces are working against that low-rate strategy, ranging from investor psychology to global competition for capital.
The big winners of 2010 scored returns far above those of U.S. markets by piggybacking on China's ferocious growth. But rebounding American equities look mighty impressive next to the year's real losers: the victims of the eurozone debt crisis.
Fitch Ratings has downgraded Ireland three notches from A to BBB , citing the costs of restructuring the Irish banking system, the country's weak growth prospects, and uncertainty about its economy due to the deepening financial crisis, despite the international economic assistance it received last month.
