#credit-ratings

#credit-ratings

Markets could remain sensitive to the developments in the Middle East. Tensions remain elevated in the region amid continued incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and a failed attempt for a second round of talks this week, undermining prospects for a near-term resolution.

The most senior officials from the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, and the Bank of England are expected to take part in a desktop stress test to respond to another Lehman Brothers-style collapse.

A debt management plan (DMP) is a way to combine your unsecured debts into a more manageable single monthly bill. You'll typically get reduced interest rates compared to what you're currently paying thanks to negotiation by the agency you're working with.

"It has nailed every recession since WWII without falsely predicting a downturn. If it is triggered, it may take a while for the Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research to confirm it, but we are already in a recession."

The average American's FICO score is now down to 714 - a two point decline over the course of the last year, reflecting a troubling trend in credit health.

"Oil prices are higher again this morning, but Treasury yields are lower as the risks to economic growth begin to take precedence over the risks to inflation," Oxford Economics said in a note on Monday.

"The historical evidence reveals a striking pattern: government bonds have repeatedly generated substantial real losses during these extreme episodes. They have even underperformed equities and real estates which are traditionally regarded as risky assets."

behind the recent jump are primarily the weak labour market numbers, but almost all the economic data has turned soft since the end of last year. Total nonfarm payroll employment edged down by 92,000 in February, and the unemployment rate changed little at 4.4 percent.

Under the surface of soaring crude prices is the realization that the likelihood of Fed cuts later this year is quickly dwindling. Oil dominated the session. WTI crude has surged 33% over the past week, and Thursday added another 9.7% as Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed.

For the 25 major episodes going back to 1950, we typically see a decline in the S&P of around 4%. Now, usually after a month, the S&P tends to recover that entire decline. Then he immediately walked it back. The playbook, he said, does not apply here.

Citi acknowledges the deal carries expected accretion, but the firm's concern centers on execution risk and due diligence challenges. The core problem: disproving the bear thesis could take years, which creates a persistent overhang on the stock.

The top five U.S. hyperscalers have accumulated $662 billion in future data center lease commitments not yet begun that, because of that fact, are not current liabilities and therefore currently sit entirely off their balance sheets. As those leases begin over the next several years, and as landlords' obligations are fulfilled, that more than half a trillion dollars worth of data-center activity will be recorded on the balance sheet.

TD Cowen reduced estimates across the household and personal care space, arguing that companies will be unable to fully mitigate higher oil-related input costs stemming from the Iran war.

The current pressure is largely driven by tensions in the Middle East, as signals from the U.S. and Iran remain conflicting. While the U.S. has indicated that negotiations are ongoing, Iran has firmly denied any talks, increasing uncertainty around the prospects of de-escalation.

In my view, interest rates are more likely than not going to head lower over the course of 2026 and into 2027. I'm not saying we're due for a pandemic-like selloff, but I do think that weakness in the labor market is likely more protracted than the government data suggest. As such, I do think the makeup of the Federal Reserve, and which way many of its presidents and voting members lean (toward providing support for the labor market over battling inflation) could lead to much faster rate cuts than many think.

I have not touched a paper note for months. I don't even have money to pay for a taxi. Now we walk a lot, for long distances. Palestinians in Gaza use the Israeli currency, the shekel, in their daily transactions, and depend on Israel to supply banks with new banknotes and coins.

"Every morning the opening screen on my Bloomberg is what's going on with CDS spreads on Oracle debt," Morgan Stanley Wealth Management CIO Lisa Shalett told Fortune in October, seeming to speak for a market that was increasingly worried about the bursting of a bubble in artificial intelligence (AI).