Zigging and zagging our way to positives this week, we found it much easier to spot good financial events to bring to you; so here is our abbreviated list of just 5 positives from this week:
On Wednesday Moody’s cut French Banks ratings with a market yawn: While it may not seem like a big deal, recall just a few weeks ago when the US received a rating downgrade, market participants panicked, and ran for the hills. We perceive this lack of response as a good thing, as participants are becoming more accustom to the current situation.
Geithner to Poland: Tim Geithner, the US Treasury Secretary, has been very busy this week, as he makes two of our positives. Early AM today, US time, he set foot in Poland to discuss options with EU Finance ministers. Given that the US has had a bit of recent experience with financial crisis, we perceive this as a positive, especially given the cheers associated with his trip coming from abroad.
Angela to the Rescue in support of the Euro: Angela Merkel, in Honey Badger like form, continues to hold firm against her critics and trumpet support for the Euro as a currency. We perceive this as a positive as future stability of the Euro may help the multination group, however, the greater positive is Angela continues to hold her ground.
Timothy’s comments at a New York Conference (Video): Geithner, making his second appearance in our positives this week, said speaking of the EU nations “…this is their challenge and they have the economic and financial capacity to meet this challenge. the people who are concerned that this is beyond their grasp are mistaken. the size of the challenges they face financially andeconomically are completely within the capacity of the stronger european members to manage” This is a strong of vote as we have seen, especially coming from Tim.
China Closer to Soft Landing: China’s continued self-imposed head winds continue to slow, but not stop, their fast growing immense economy. This is a positive to the global economic picture. We voiced concerns at the beginning of the year, thankfully in positive fashion our trading neighbor is positively managing the slow down well.
We hope you have a great day and a wonderful weekend, and welcome Donald back from his trip to Jamaica and avoidance of harsh weather.
JK