panic monday at the markets

(please read while listening to the bangles' manic monday and culture club's karma chameleon.)

after standard & poor's historic but not so surprising move (yes dear, what caught many by surprise was the timing. friday? after the markets have closed? why?) last week to cut the debt rating of the united states of obama by one notch to aa plus from triple a, everyone's now waiting nervously on how the financial markets, particularly in asia, will perform on monday.
stock markets in the middle east were hammered on sunday in reaction to friday's rating cut in the united states, the country's first ever downgrade, and asian markets are largely seen to follow when they open today. that will set the tone for europe and the u.s. when they trade later in the day.
even before the downgrade, global stock markets had slumped after recent weak u.s. data stoked fears the world's biggest economy may be headed for another recession, dragging down the rest of the world. concerns that italy and other european countries may default on their obligations added to the gloom.
some worried the free fall will continue this week, as s&p warned of more downgrades on u.s. debt in the future. the rating agency has a "negative" outlook on the u.s.'s  $14.3 trillion debt.

while the u.s. government was disputing s&p's computation of the size of its budget deficit in the coming years and china admonished washington on its reliance on credits to fund its profligate spending, investor billionaire warren buffett has assured everyone that the u.s. economy won't fall into another recession.
the influential chairman of berkshire hathaway, which had $47.9 billion in cash, said he does not rely on what the debt raters say for his investment decisions, bloomberg news reported on sunday.

the group of seven (u.s., united kingdom, france, germany, canada, japan and italy) will hold an emergency meeting before asian markets open on monday.
most likely, the leaders of the industrialised countries will assure investors that they are still on top of the situation and that they will do everything that they could to stimulate the global economy, stabilise markets and prevent a default in the eurozone.
just wondering if china -- the biggest creditor to the united states and the saviour of the global economy during the most recent credit crisis caused by toxic home mortgages -- would also be a part of the meeting.
despite its growing economic and political clout in recent years, china, you see, is still not part of the elite group of seven club.
so will the selloff continue or will there be some surprise announcements from the group of seven (and elsewhere) on monday that will at least limit the downfall?
will the assurance from buffett, who endorsed obama during the election, help calm the markets and encourage some bargain hunting? or will it just fuel more panic selling?
stay tuned!

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(in case the tailspin continues, we can always blame the warring grand old party <republicans dahlins> and the democrats for delaying the decision to raise the debt ceiling, europe for their borrowing spree in the past that led to unmanageable debts, and of course, standard & poor's for having the balls this time to cut the debt rating of the united states. somehow, it always helps to have someone to blame. trust me.)

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here is manic monday:

and karma chameleon: