Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's says it may downgrade Japan's current AA sovereign debt to AA-. S&P has officially changed its outlook on Japan's debt from stable to negative. Is Japan the canary in the credit coal mine for the U.S. and U.K.?
The rate of decline for house prices has stalled, according to the latest Case-Shiller index of sale prices in 20 U.S. cities. The report shows prices in 13 cities stayed almost flat. Seven had month-over-month gains, and all 20 continue to improve on a year-over-year basis. Still, the worst may not be over yet.
If the health care bills in Congress become law, the biotech sector may become one of the biggest beneficiaries. Here are six stocks and mutual funds that stand to gain the most from the changes.
Warren Buffett dumps more of his Moody's shares. Moody's stock is up by about 5 percent over the last six months, compared with a 25 percent increase in the DJIA, and soon credit-ratings companies may face stricter regulation by Congress.
If two new reports are accurate, investors have something to cheer about heading into 2010. Goldman Sachs strategists predict the Standards and Poors index will rise by another 13 percent. Meanwhile, some analysts predict that dividend payouts will rise by as much as 8.9 percent.
