Soros Fund Management has increased its bearish bet against US companies on the S&P 500 index. Its billionaire owner will make money if the index collapses. The Standard & Poor’s 500 is an American stock market index based on market capitalization of 500 large US companies having common stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange or on NASDAQ. The 86-year-old investor’s fund has reported... 

The moment is around the corner when Saudi Arabia will face a massive budget deficit, an American political scientist said. “Saudi Arabia is running large budget deficits of 15 to 20 percent of GDP, and is drawing down on its currency reserves,” American political science professor James D. Savage told Iran’s Tasnim news agency. He added that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates... 

S&P on Monday downgraded Russia’s credit grade to junk status. Rating agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded Russia’s credit rating to the speculative BB+ grade from BBB-. Analysts say that the decision of the rating agency was politically motivated. The speculative level means that securities that a BB+ state issues can only be good for short-term transactions to earn on their... 

Argentina’s credit rating was downgraded to “selective default” by Standard & Poor’s as the South American country missed Wednesday’s deadline for a grace period during ongoing negotiations with holdout debt holders. Wednesday is the cutoff for Argentina to make good on a $539 million payment to bondholders, which was placed on hold by US judge Thomas P. Griesa’s order tying that payment... 

For the first time in five years Standard & Poor’s has cut Russia’s credit rating to ‘BBB-‘, just above junk status. It warns the tension in Ukraine and ‘significant’ capital outflow could mean another downgrade. Moscow says it is “politically motivated.” “In our view, the tense geopolitical situation between Russia and Ukraine could see additional... 

Just one day after President Barack Obama signed into law a bipartisan deal to end the government shutdown and avoid default, the US debt surged a record $328 billion, the first day the government was able to borrow money. Fasten your seatbelt, because the US debt rate is racing out of control and nobody seems to know where or when the spending will end: The US debt now equals $17.075 trillion, according... 

Standard & Poor’s says the shutdown in total cost the US economy $24 billion, or $1.5 billion per day, the rating agency said Wednesday. The agency also estimated the shutdown will pare fourth quarter GDP by 0.6 percent. Obama has signed legislation that will avoid a technical debt default, ending the 16-day partial shutdown of the government that has cost the world’s largest economy... 

The US stock market plummeted to its lowest level in almost a month as a federal government shutdown stretched into its third day on Thursday. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 135 points after the closing bell. The 0.9 percent loss forced the Dow index to close at below 15,000 points. The broad-based Standard & Poor’s 500 index also fell 17 points, or 1 percent, to its lowest point... 

As a government shutdown looms over the federal budget in the United States, stocks in the country fall sharply and global investors cut allocation to US equities and bonds. All 10 main industries of Standard & Poor’s 500 index dropped on Monday. Microsoft Corp. led the declines with a 1.1 percent fall among the largest companies while shares in finance, telephone and energy tumbled the most. Dow... 

Chinese consumers’ spending has surged in recent years Even with the ongoing slowdown of China’s economic growth, the world’s No 2 economy is expected to overtake the US to become the world’s largest consumer market in the next five years, according to a new report by Standard & Poor’s (S&P). The report – entitled Financial Risks Are Rising as Retail and... 

Jobseekers wait in line at a French job center in Paris The number of jobless people in France has climbed towards a record high in February for the 22nd month running, and has reached its highest level since 1997. Data released from the French Labor Ministry showed on Tuesday that the number of registered jobseekers in the eurozone’s second-largest economy rose by 18,400 from January to 3.188... 

The U.S. Justice Department found those to blame in the global crisis of the late 2000s. According to the American authorities, this is Standard & Poor’s. The accused is confused, while the U.S. Justice Department is preparing a lawsuit against the agency. It wants to make Standard & Poor’s accountable for publishing inflated ratings of mortgage bonds. Allegedly, this publication... 

The Fitch ratings agency has downgraded Argentina five notches, saying the country could default on its obligations to US creditors. That’s after a US judge ordered Argentina to set aside $ 1.3bn for debt repayment by December 15. The rating agency cut its long-term rating for Argentina to “CC” from “B,” with the short-term rating being cut to the level one step above default – to “C”... 

Credit rating heavyweight Moody’s Investors Service has stripped France of its top AAA rating to Aa1 with a negative outlook, sending a warning to President Hollande’s endeavours to rebuild French economic growth and credibility. ­Moody’s said its decision to downgrade Europe’s second largest economy reflects France’s deteriorating economic outlook, the recession in the wider Eurozone... 

Panasonic Corp., Japan’s second largest TV maker, saw its credit rating cut by two levels by Standard & Poor’s after it forecast a $9.5 bn loss 30 times bigger than analyst estimates. ­S&P said it has downgraded long-term debt to BBB, down from A-, as “huge losses for the second year in a row weaken the company’s financial profile and could further slow its recovery in the next...