A U.S. $100 dollar bill is seen December 17, 2009.
Credit: Reuters/Sam Mircovich
NEW YORK | Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:02pm EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar would dive. The housing and auto industry recoveries could sputter. And the global economy might wobble.
Such are the more dire predictions if the United States lost its top-notch AAA credit rating, a possibility after the ratings agency Standard & Poor's on Monday revised its outlook for America's credit score due to the lack of action by the government in reducing its budget deficit.
Never before has S&P placed the full faith and credit of the United States on "outlook negative", highlighting the uncertainty.
"While still a remote risk, the possibility of the U.S. losing its AAA rating could result in a wholesale abandonment of dollar assets and would potentially destabilize the entire global economy," said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington.
When Moody's Investors Service revised its outlook on Japan's AAA-rated sovereign debt to negative from stable in 1998 -- similar to what S&P did to the United States on Monday -- the yen sank to its lowest level in six years and government bond prices fell sharply.
U.S. stock markets fell on Monday and the CBOE volatility index .VIX, better known as Wall Street's fear gauge, surged more than 17 percent at one point. The U.S. dollar, however, gained on the euro, largely on concerns about Europe's debt crisis.
"One of the reasons why the U.S. dollar is still the reserve currency is the lack of other options, and in two years there may still be no other options," said Tom Simons, a money market economist at Jefferies & Co. in New York.
If the dollar did weaken, it could boosts export sales of U.S. manufacturers, but also put upward pressure on inflation by making imports more expensive.
The greater threat might be higher borrowing costs if investors demand a greater reward to take on more risk from a less credit-worthy nation. The knock-on effect would be felt in sectors sensitive to interest rates such as housing and automobile sales, both of which were floored by the Great Recession of 2007-2009.
"The housing market is still very fragile, so any bad news is really felt. A downgrade would be a disaster," said Melissa Cohn, chief executive of the Manhattan Mortgage Co., a leading mortgage initiator in New York.
The sale of new homes, for example, have fallen to just a quarter of their 2005 peak.
A downgrade would be less disastrous for the auto industry, which is riding an improving job market and a pent-up demand from the recession to recovery.
"It could affect the amplitude and speed at which we recover. I'm not prepared to say it would send us into an absolute tailspin," said Alan Baum of Baum & Associates, a market research firm focusing on the automotive industry.
"At this point the credit markets are realizing there is money to be made in the automotive financing area and they are still positive in this regard," he said.
Skeptics downplay the significance of a potential S&P downgrade. Tom Porcelli, chief economist at RBC Capital Markets, found that sovereign yields on four countries that lost AAA status actually fell six basis points on average 12 months after a downgrade.
The reality is the US is not akin to the PIIGS, the reality is that the US is not likely to reorganize/renegotiate/restructure its debt or otherwise give a "haircut" to its debtors the way that Greece, Ireland and Portugal may do and our lenders are well aware of that. It isn't a BFD and I am talking about "A Big Financial Deal." We don't have a National Debt in the terms of what Brazil accumulated or the 200% of GDP that Japan currently has. Nor would it likely drop auto sales or housing contracts, because those loans are made in general by American Banks that don't seek funding from external sources. It may hamper the Government's ability to get cheap money from sources like China, Japan, etc. That would be a good outcome.
We can play number games all day, but it doesn't change the fact that America can absorb our rather large debt. There are many tools at our disposal to change the current multi-trillion dollar debt situation.
Reality is that even if our AAA rating was reduced it would result in the world suffering more than we do.
If you want some real fear, think about the reality of the determent caused by Moody's and S&P in their "ratings." The reference to them giving great ratings to "air" (i.e. The housing subprime mess) was disastrous is a case in point.
People still see the Yen as a "safe haven." Freakin come out of Alice's world. They still say the Euro, in many articles I read, is a good investment. Really!?!
You can devalue the dollar and seek "safe haven" in the Yen that is produced by a country whose debt is in excess of 200% of GDP and has now experienced a "triple disaster." Japan's economy has been in free fall for nearly two decades and has experienced deflation over the last couple of years. Japan is going to have to seek outside assistance to pay for their "triple disaster" because they don't have any ability to absorb yet another loss. This is the financial picture for another AAA rated country.
Yea, Moody's and S&P are really good sources to look for guidance about things. Not!!!
You can see more of my opinions at ICallItLikeISeeIt.info. Happy investing, Jim
omama will do a secong term.Im 100 %. This is all part of the game.wink
It is not because of current US policies. It is because of 30 years of irresponsible spending on top of 20 years high spending before that. The money has been spent. The dollar has been kept high for the advantage of foreign suppliers and of the American wealthy. Time for it to fall. Hard.
That would be of major benefit to the American people, other than the top 10% in wealth. It would put our economy on its feet at last.
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