Economy & Markets
The important economic and stock market news that advisors need to know.
British Parliament Calls for Investigation of Auditors
By Marlene Y. SatterOn Wednesday, a parliamentary report from Britain called for an investigation by the nation’s competition authorities to learn why the “Big Four” auditing firms did not warn supervisors regarding banks before the financial crisis hit.
March 29, 2011
Conference Board Reports Steep Drop in Consumer ConfidenceRising prices for food, gas suspected as main causes of March confidence decline, which was steeper than economists expected.
March 29, 2011
Standard & Poor’s Stovall: S&P 500 Index Will Reach 1,400 Target Over 12 MonthsIf previous bull-market cycles are a sign of what’s to come, the S&P 500 Index will reach a 12-month target of 1,400, says S&P Chief Investment Strategist Sam Stovall.
March 29, 2011
Portugal Gets Mixed News: Ratings Cut, Threat; Victory in Court AppealPortugal got bad news on Monday and good news on Tuesday, although the former may outweigh the latter. Standard & Poor’s said that it might downgrade the country’s rating again, after last week’s slice of two notches from the grade—this after it cut long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings for...
March 29, 2011
Britain’s Economy Not as Weak as Feared Last YearBritain’s economy shrank 0.5% in Q4 2010, not as much as was originally believed, according to the Office for National Statistics in London, which said Tuesday that figures had been revised upward to reflect more accurate levels of services and factory output.
March 28, 2011
Investment Managers Expect Volatile, Bumpy Recovery: Towers WatsonInvestment managers expect recovery to be volatile, according to a report released in March from Towers Watson.
March 28, 2011
Next Global Bank Crisis May Be in Wings, Says Canadian RegulatorTed Price, assistant superintendent of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, said Sunday that the next global banking crisis could be on its way and that regulators should bear down on the financial industry before it hits.
March 28, 2011
Portugal’s Socrates Still Heads Socialists, Will Oppose Bailout in ElectionJose Socrates, who resigned as prime minister of Portugal after austerity measures proposed by his Socialist party were defeated in a parliamentary vote, was reelected on Sunday by his party with 93% of the vote. He pledged to run in opposition to acceptance of a financial bailout.