Economic Indicators

Fed, FDIC still accept U.S. debt

Despite the downgrade of the U.S. government’s credit rating, its bonds remain solid in the eyes of regulators. Almost immediately after the downgrade, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation released a joint statement directed at banks, savings associations, credit unions, and bank and savings and loan holding companies. “For risk-based capital purposes, […]

By Staff |August 8, 2011

1 min read

Currency markets shrug off U.S. downgrade

The historic decision by Standard & Poor’s to downgrade the U.S. credit rating may have created scandalous headlines, but currency markets were quick to price it in—shockingly in favour of the greenback. And that trend may continue, according to industry participants in the Canadian financial market. From a currency standpoint, the first-ever downgrade of the […]

By Vikram Barhat |August 8, 2011

4 min read

Soft confidence threatens U.S. recovery

The U.S. government has bought itself some breathing room on its financing, but the debate and brinkmanship leading up to the deal has crushed the nation’s already fragile consumer confidence. Slightly more than half (54%) of Americans say the debate weakened their confidence in the economy, according to the RBC Consumer Outlook Index for the […]

By Staff |August 4, 2011

2 min read

U.S. debt: Not off the hook yet

Debt Crisis Update Washington may have reached a deal on its debt ceiling, but it still can’t catch a break from ratings agencies. Moody’s Investor Services has re-affirmed the U.S. government’s Aaa rating, but has changed its outlook on the world’s biggest economy to “negative”. Moody’s had placed the rating under review on July 13. […]

By Staff |August 3, 2011

2 min read