one of those

[solarbird]

This is one of the less worrysome rumours, that now has a good source:

S&P's Chambers: Pressure building on AAA rating
Wed Sep 17, 2008 12:19pm EDT
Reuters
By Walden Siew

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pressure is building on the pristine "AAA" rating of the United States after a federal bailout of American International Group Inc, Standard & Poor's sovereign ratings committee chairman said on Wednesday.

The $85 billion bailout of AIG on Tuesday by the U.S. Federal Reserve "has weakened the fiscal profile of the United States," S&P's John Chambers told Reuters in an interview.

"Lack of a pro-active stance could have resulted in further financial stress and put pressure on the U.S. triple-A rating," Chambers said. "There's no God-given gift of a AAA rating, and the U.S. has to earn it like everyone else."

If treasuries lose AAA, the entire game is over. Meanwhile, here's more on how the Fed is running out of money, and raising more through emergency auctions. The last few months, those have mostly - overwhelmingly - been sales to sovereign wealth funds and similar foreign-governmental interests. Is this a good idea, and is it a stable situation?

also: TED to 304. Not tasty.

Comments

Re: FTSE

[solarbird]

Russia has stopped trading two days straight. Given falls of 17% and 10% in that order, I can't say I blame them.

Hrfm, US dollar is dropping quite a bit now, and the closing numbers were not good. And nine minutes after the close, they're still settling trades. Brutal. DJIA down just over 4%, S&P 500 down 4.7%, NASDAQ down... barely shy of 5%. Not a good day.

Re: FTSE

[mhaolain.livejournal.com]

That link you provided at the bottom of this post is pretty scary stuff. But it really comes down to - where will the wave crest? How far inland does the tidal wave go and what does that mean? Somebody's got to pay in real physical terms. I mean, what happens when the US loses it's AAA rating?

With all the buying of bad debts the Fed has been doing, it may already be too late for the treasuries. Aren't they going to stop buying up institutions "too big to fall" in the hope of having something for when the financial secret bombs go off?

Selling more treasuries, creating a "there but not there" fund to sweep it under the rug. Begging overseas for takeovers? What's the sign of the four horsemen? Right now, anything looks like it could happen.