Week Jan 20 2012 – Weekly Recap & The Week Ahead
“It’s allright to have butterflies in your stomach, just set them to fly in formation” — Colin Powell
1. IMF Seeks $500B Boost to Lending Resources — The International Monetary Fund is proposing to raise its lending capacity by as much as $500 billion to insulate the global economy against any worsening of Europe’s debt crisis. The IMF is pushing China, Brazil, Russia, India, Japan and oil-exporting nations to be the top contributors, according to a G-20 official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private. The fund wants a deal struck at the Feb. 25- 26 meeting of G-20 finance ministers and central bankers in Mexico City, the official said.
2. China’s economy slows — China’s GDP growth slowed to an annualized 8.9%, the lowest expansion since mid-2009, but ahead of expectations of +8.7%.
3. Feds step up S&P mortgage ratings probe — Federal prosecutors are pushing forward with their probe of S&P’s (MHP) ratings of troubled mortgage securities, sources say, after a delay that led many to believe the investigation had been all but abandoned.
4. France, Spain hold strong bond auctions— France has passed its first test following S&P’s downgrade last week, attracting strong demand and obtaining lower yields in an auction of €7.965B ($10.28B) of medium-term bonds. Meanwhile, Spain sold over €6.6B ($8.46B) of bonds with maturities of up to 10 years, with demand beating forecast and yields roughly in line with expectations.
5. Greek Debt-Swap Talks Set for Second Day in Push for Accord — Greece’s government heads into a second day of talks with private creditors in a push to reach an accord that would slash the nation’s debt and avert a collapse of the economy. Greece needs to seal the agreement in time to meet a debt repayment of €14.5B ($18.5B) in March.
The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:
