Tuesday, March 19, 2013

I Thought Everything Was Turning Around

The message recently was that the economy had turned a corner, that not even the sequestration mess could put a dent into it.

But here's what the Cyprus news is doing:

NEW YORK, March 19 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasuries prices
climbed on Tuesday as a plan in Cyprus to tax bank accounts to
help pay for a bailout unraveled, creating uncertainty about the
island country's financial future and reviving fears about the
stability of the euro zone.
    Benchmark yields hit a two-week low. The Cypriot parliament
overwhelmingly rejected a proposed levy on bank deposits, a
proposal that had sent investors dumping stocks and scurrying
for safe havens this week.
    The rejection by Cyprus's parliament of the levy brings the
country, one of the euro zone's smaller members, to the brink of
financial collapse. 
    Treasuries are being dogged by contagion fears, said Jason
Rogan, managing director in Treasuries trading at Guggenheim
Partners in New York.
    "There are some people saying it could occur in Italy and
Spain, that is really where the fear is building and why
Treasuries are reacting the way they are," he said.  
    Robert Tipp, chief investment strategist for Prudential
Fixed Income, said, "It's pretty much wide open on the rumor
mill for Cyprus right now.
    "People are at a loss. There are a lot of factors in play,"
he said, calling the situation a "jump ball" that could go in
many possible directions.
 
It really doesn't take much for the so-called recovery to get put on hold.

We heard how things had turned around in the first quarter in both 2011 and 2012.

Until the economy slowed back down to a crawl both years.

Now we have sequestration and this Eurozone flare-up.

Be interesting to see how things go from here.

Wouldn't wanna bet my Spring Break on new highs for the Dow now.

1 comment:

  1. Surely it will take to recover after an ugly economy. I hope the rate of employment will increase now.

    ReplyDelete