Economy/Ecommerce
Economy Watch: S&P Downgrade Ripples Through the Markets
Observers, pundits and prognosticators weren’t quite sure what investors would do after Friday’s unprecedented Standard & Poor’s downgrade of U.S. sovereign debt.
Economy Watch: S&P Lowers the Downgrade Boom
On Friday evening, Standard & Poor’s went where no rating agency has gone before by downgrading long-term U.S. sovereign debt.
PODCAST: Economy Watch Weekly with Dees Stribling
For the week ending August 5, Congress managed to raise the debt ceiling at the last minute, while handing off tough budget decisions to a congressional bipartisan Super Committee; Wall Street goes into a free-falling panic, presumably over euro debt; and the jobs report isn’t as bad as expected.
Economy Watch: Wall Street Tanks, but July a Better Month for Hiring than June
The July jobs reports had some relatively good news on the heels of Wall Street’s worst day in three years; commodities drop along with stocks; and CRE prices remain steady.
Economy Watch: Debt Ceiling Done, Now Back to Worrying about Jobs
Corporate downsizing announcements spiked to a 16-month high in July; a Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows a wide variation in jobless rates among metro areas; and the non-manufacturing sector is growing, but slowly.
Economy Watch: Congress Acts as Deadline Nears, but GDP Still Anemic
Although not yet finalized, a last-minute deal is in the works to raise the debt ceiling; U.S. GDP gets revised way down; and homeownership rates continue to shrink.
PODCAST: Economy Watch Weekly with Dees Stribling
For the week ending July 29, while Congress continued to dither over the debt crisis, equity markets acted nervous and bond markets showed a steady hand; U.S. GDP projections have been revised downward; and the housing market at least isn’t sinking.
Economy Watch: Congress Continues to Spin Its Wheels
Congress doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere on the debt ceiling mess; foreclosures were down in the first half of the year, though perhaps due to blockage in the pipeline; and pending home sales were up in June.
Economy Watch: No Deal Yet
Votes in the House and Senate on their respective debt-ceiling plans are expected today; the Beige Book reports mediocre economic recovery; and the United States takes UBS to court over selling bum mortgages to GSEs.
Economy Watch: Case-Shiller’s Slender Good News: Home Prices Didn’t Go Down in May
The latest S&P/Case-Shiller index shows property values mostly holding steady; consumers are slightly less grumpy than last month; and U.S. investors hold their breath about the debt ceiling.