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| Europe |
| S&P Cuts Credit Ratings for Nine Euro Zone Nations |
| 2012-01-14 |
| [CNBC] Standard & Poor's downgraded the credit ratings of nine euro zone countries, stripping La Belle France and Austria of their coveted triple-A status but not EU paymaster Germany, in a Black Friday 13th for the troubled single currency area. "Today's rating actions are primarily driven by our assessment that the policy initiatives that have been taken by European policy makers in recent weeks may be insufficient to fully address ongoing systemic stresses in the euro zone," S&P said in a blurb announcing the downgrade. In a potentially more ominous setback, talks broke down between Greece and its creditors over a debt swap seen as crucial to avert a Greek default, although officials said more talks are likely next week. If Greece cannot persuade banks and insurers to accept voluntary losses on their bond holdings, a second international rescue package for the euro zone's most heavily indebted state will unravel, raising the prospect of bankruptcy in late March, when it has to redeem 14.4 billion euros in maturing debt. S&P lowered its long-term rating on Cyprus, Italia, Portugal and Spain by two notches, and cut its rating on Austria, La Belle France, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia by one notch. The move puts highly indebted Italia on the same BBB+ level as Kazakhstan and pushes Portugal into junk status. The credit-rating agency affirmed the current long-term ratings for Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. U.S. stocks slumped earlier amid buzz about the possible downgrades, though finished well off their lows. The euro fell by more than a cent to $1.2650 on the news. European shares closed lower. Safe-haven German 10-year bond futures rose to a new record high while the risk premium investors charge on French, Spanish, Italian and Belgian debt widened. The credit-rating agency put all 14 euro-zone nations -- Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, La Belle France, Ireland, Italia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain -- on "negative" outlook for a possible further downgrade. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #8 If all the "bad" economies leave the Euro what does that leave? Expect the Euro to double when the "Good" Euro countries get rid of the bad. At least until Germany and France have to confront their pension crises(presently at 300% of GDP respectively)Then expect the real STHTF. Maybe 3 to 4 years. Then as the Chinese would say "may you live in interesting times" |
| Posted by: tipper 2012-01-14 21:07 |
| #7 Euroland economies do OK until the government can no longer borrow and ramps up taxes to try and keep the deb under control. Thats when the real economy crashes as Greece currently illustrates. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2012-01-14 20:07 |
| #6 Worshippers at the shrine of Krugman the Tiny God claim that he must be right now (spend more and more and more) because he's been right so many times before. So let's revisit Shortround's assessment of Europe back in 2008 (Caution: Slimes at the link): But the next time a politician tries to scare you with the European bogeyman, bear this in mind: EuropeÂ’s economy is actually doing O.K. these days, despite a level of taxing and spending beyond the wildest ambitions of American progressives. Ummmm, maybe not Paulie. |
| Posted by: Matt 2012-01-14 14:09 |
| #5 We're patient, BP. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2012-01-14 11:11 |
| #4 Still at least 2 notches above Israel's credit rating. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2012-01-14 10:05 |
| #3 At this time, you don't have to be faster than the bear, just faster than someone else in the group. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2012-01-14 08:20 |
| #2 Matt |
| Posted by: tipper 2012-01-14 02:41 |
| #1 As I see it, as long as Europeans have money to support genocide (Paleo aspirations), they have too much money. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2012-01-14 02:09 |
