The US is threatened to loose its triple A rating concerning loans and credits

The US had this rating since the first introduction of the ratring 1917.

So wheres the economy, stupid?



source: Cafferty/CNN

Dow falls 246; worst yearly start since 1991

Bank of America's rescue of Countrywide offers no relief to a slumping market. Gold briefly touches $900 an ounce. Citigroup will get $10 billion in new capital. American Express is the second credit card company in two days to warn on profits. Tiffany gives a dull outlook.

Investors dumped stocks Friday amid worries about the health of the economy, sending the major averages to their third down week in a row.
At the close, the Dow Jones industrials were down nearly 247 points, 1.9%, to 12,606. The Nasdaq Composite Index was off 49 points, or 2%, to 2,440, and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 19 points, 1.4%, to 1,401.
The selling was quite broad, hitting energy, consumer, retail, technology and airline stocks the hardest.
And the drubbing that investors absorbed sets up a volatile week ahead with fourth-quarter earnings due from:
Citigroup (C, news, msgs) and Intel (INTC, news, msgs) on Tuesday.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM, news, msgs) and Wells Fargo (WFC, news, msgs) on Wednesday.
Merrill Lynch (MER, news, msgs), IBM Corp. (IBM, news, msgs) and Washington Mutual (WM, news, msgs) on Thursday.
General Electric (GE, news, msgs) on Friday.