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Moody’s fears social unrest as AAA states implement austerity plans

The US rating agency said the US, the UK, Germany, France, and Spain are walking a tightrope as they try to bring public finances under control without nipping recovery in the bud. It warned of “substantial execution risk” in withdrawal of stimulus.

“Growth alone will not resolve an increasingly complicated debt equation. Preserving debt affordability… »

Stocks Mid: JSE suffers futures closeout hangover

The JSE was soft in midday trade on Friday, suffering from a futures closeout hangover.
By 12:00 the JSE all share index had given up 0.49%, with resources 0.52% softer. Gold miners were down 0.66% and platinum miners declined 0.48%.
Banks were 0.56% worse off, financials dropped… »

Stocks AM: JSE soft in futures closeout aftermath

The JSE took a dive straight into the red on Friday following a strong show on Thursday amid a high volume futures closeout.
By 09:23 the JSE all share index had given up 0.46%, with resources 0.35% softer. Gold miners were relatively flat, down 0.21%, and platinum miners declined 0.52%.
… »

Reserves build up could ensure upgrade: Moody’s

Cape Town, Mar 18 (I-Net Bridge) - The build up of South Africa’s foreign exchange reserves is assuring resilience to market turbulence, ratings agency Moody’s senior vice president for sovereign credit in Europe and Africa, Kristin Lindow, said Thursday.
According to Lindow, South Africa’s modest foreign debt exposure by both government and… »

Greece threatens to call in IMF as Europe dithers

Greece has upped the ante in an escalating game of brinkmanship, threatening to turn to the International Monetary Fund for support unless EU leaders come up with an acceptable rescue package at their next summit on March 25…. »

The Italian Greek Job: By Satyajit Das

Recent revelations that Greece used derivatives to disguise its true level of borrowing have surprised markets. The reaction is reminiscent of Captain Renault (played by Claude Rains) in Casablanca: “I am shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.”

Use of derivatives to disguise debt and arbitrage regulations and accounting rules is not… »

Richard Russell

March 17, 2010 — March 16 (Bloomberg) — Federal Reserve officials repeated their pledge to keep the main interest rate near zero for an “extended period” and confirmed that emergency measures to prop up the housing market will end as planned this month. While the economy has “continued to strengthen,” policy makers noted that “housing… »

Glazers hope to cut down Red Knights in battle for Manchester United

The Glazer family are considering a second round of refinancing in an effort to remove Manchester United’s huge debt burden.

The American owners also hope that the move would help to stave off a planned takeover by the Red Knights.

Initial talks have taken place within the Glazers’ inner circle about how to get rid of their… »

Macroblog: Bad by any measure

A few weeks back, The Economist published a story touting the well-known fact that the “American economy just had its worst decade since the 1930s.” Whether looking at gross domestic product (GDP), consumption, income, or nonfarm payrolls, the decade from 2000 to 2010 generally looks bad from an economic perspective. During this decade, of course,… »

BHP Billiton remains cautious about global economy

Johannesburg, Mar 18 (I-Net Bridge) - Global resources giant BHP Billiton (BIL) remains cautious about the state of the global economy and notes the recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) report which highlighted the gap in growth between developed and developing economies.
Don Argus, in his last letter to shareholders as BHP Billiton Chairman,… »