Week Oct 15 2011 – Weekly Recap & The Week Ahead
“Never pay the slightest attention to what a company president ever says about his stock. “Bernard Baruch
1. Dexia bank rescued — Dexia agreed to the nationalization of its Belgian retail bank and secured 90 billion euros ($121 billion) in state guarantees, in a rescue that raises pressure on other euro zone countries to strengthen their banks.
2. Greece likely to get aid tranche in November — Greece is likely to receive an 8 billion euro ($10.9 billion) tranche of aid in early November from its international lenders. This allows the troubled euro-zone nation to avert a near-term default.
3. Senate OKs bill pressuring China over yuan — the Senate approved a bill that would allow new duties on goods from China and other countries that lawmakers say manipulate their currencies.
4. Obama’s jobs bill falls in the Senate — as expected, the Senate late yesterday blocked consideration of President Obama’s $447B jobs plan, with the chamber voting 50-49 in favor of advancing the package, well short of the 60 needed to overcome procedural hurdles.
5. China Export Growth Dwindles to Slowest Pace in Seven Months as Yuan Gains — China ‘s Exports rose a less-than-forecast 17.1 percent in September from a year earlier, the bureau’s data showed in Beijing. The trade surplus was $14.51 billion, the smallest since May. Growth in shipments to Europe, China’s biggest export market, slumped to 9.8 percent, from 22 percent, amid the sovereign-debt crisis in euro-region nations.
6. Fitch Ratings downgraded UBS AG and placed seven other U.S. and European banks on credit watch negative — The ratings agency lowered UBS’s long-term issuer default rating to A from A+. Fitch is also reviewing ratings for Barclays Bank Plc BARCBB.UL, BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA), Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN.VX), Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE), Societe Generale SOGNNY.UL, Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) for further possible downgrades.
7. G20 finance chiefs meet as S&P downgrades Spain — Spain is once again the center of attention after S&P downgraded the country’s long-term debt to “AA-” from “AA” following a similar move from Fitch last week.
The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:
