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Posted on 01/21/2009 2:04:35 PM PST by rabscuttle385
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Standard & Poor's Ratings Service on Wednesday cut Portugal's long-term sovereign credit rating by one notch to A+ from AA-. "In our opinion, Portugal faces increasingly difficult challenges as it tries to boost competitiveness and lift persistently low growth," Standard & Poor's credit analyst Trevor Cullinan said, in a news release. "This, together with a heavy general government debt burden, leads us to believe that Portugal is unlikely to make the necessary structural improvements to remain in the 'AA' peer group." Fellow euro-zone members Spain and Greece have also seen their ratings cut by the agency this month, and Ireland was warned that its rating could be lowered.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
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Isn’t this the 2nd country this happened to? What country was it yesterday or the day before? Belgium.
Agh, I can’t remember.
This sucks!
Spain and Greece have been cut. The UK is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Looks like Ireland may also be cut.
Oh boy, here we go.
Germany hasn’t been able to get enough bidders on its most recent offerings (although its centrla bank has eaten up excess offerings quickly). Spain & now Portugal are now downgraded. Ireland is threatening to leave the Euro.
UK is on the brink of its first default since the middle ages and the pound sterling & Yen have been doing an interesting dance lately.
Buckle in tight, we’re in for an interesting first quarter rollercoaster ride.
I”m curious what happens to the Euro when these smaller nations have a spectre of default hanging over them... the EU can’t just eject nations from Maastrich to preserve the Euro.
What will be interesting in the long term is whether any of this influences how/when/etc the Arab gulf nations try to replicate the Euro with their own regional currency.
It’s OK Portugal, you are still WAY more credit-worthy than California.
What happens if they default? All bonds worth zero and everything in the UK becomes very cheap to foreigners?
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