Debt crisis sends first waves through Wall St

[FourScore]

Debt crisis sends first waves through Wall St
ANDY SULLIVAN AND MATT SPETALNICK

Wall Street banks are preparing for the real possibility that the United States will lose its top credit rating, which they say will cost the country $US100 billion in additional interest payments and hurt both consumers and the economy...

SNIP

"...That's an environment where hiring is going to be much less likely than it otherwise would be," he said.

The stalemate in Washington is already having an effect, with investors starting to take cash out of the market and shifting away from some long-term investments.

Further underscoring the risk of government inaction, United Parcel Service Inc, the world's largest package delivery company, cited stalled US debt ceiling talks as a reason for business uncertainty in its quarterly earnings report. Its shares fell nearly 5 percent.

The continuing gridlock unnerved investors worldwide. US stocks and the dollar fell while gold hovered near record highs. There was no hint of panic, however, as markets held out hope the stalemate could still be broken.

A Reuters poll showed that 30 of 53 economists surveyed over the past two days said the United States will lose its AAA credit rating from one of the three big ratings agencies - Standard & Poor's, Moody's or Fitch. Most said the wrangling over debt already has damaged the economy...

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/5344911/Debt-crisis-sends-first-waves-through-Wall-St

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Thank you kids,

this is what you are playing with



The rest of us will get burned though

[dkf]

2. Idiots.

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. NOW the banks are "worried" about the consumers?

Yeah, right.