Bangkok--4 Jan--Standard & Poor's
More than a year after the recession officially ended in the U.S., Standard & Poor's Ratings Services' analysts said during a roundtable discussion last month that they expect to see relatively low growth in the U.S. and Europe. Still, in the analysts' view, things are far better than they were two years ago.
The article taken from that discussion with RatingsDirect editors, "2011 Outlook: A Slow Recovery And Lingering Problems Will Test Resurgent Credit Quality," says that despite the improvement, there are enough challenges--or potential challenges--facing the economy and the credit markets to make 2011 a year in which market participants may not be able to rest easy.
The participants in the discussion included Standard & Poor's Chief Economist David Wyss; Executive Managing Director Paul Coughlin, Corporate & Government Ratings; Managing Director John B. Chambers, Sovereign Ratings; Managing Director Howard Y. Eskai, Global Head of Structured Finance Research; and Managing Director William Montrone, U.S. Public Finance.
Two serious, ongoing problems are likely to aggravate economic conditions in the U.S. and Europe: stubbornly high unemployment and the lingering aftereffect of the bubble in residential housing.
Still, we may also see the reemergence of some sectors of the structured finance market, as well as an increased investor appetite for speculative-grade fixed-income securities. With historically low interest rates that are unlikely to rise significantly, investors will probably continue to find the higher yields of such securities attractive.
The reports are available to RatingsDirect subscribers on the Global Credit Portal at www.globalcreditportal.com and RatingsDirect subscribers at www.ratingsdirect.com. If you are not a RatingsDirect subscriber, you may purchase copies of these reports by calling (1) 212-438-7280 or sending an e-mail to
[email protected]. Ratings information can also be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site by using the Ratings search box located in the left column at www.standardandpoors.com. Members of the media may request copies of these reports by contacting the media representative provided.
Media Contact:
Mimi Barker, New York (1) 212-438-5054,
[email protected]
Analyst Contacts:
David Wyss, New York (1) 212-438-4952