12:38PM Fitch upgrades California's bond outlook to stable (UST10Y, $TNX) by Deborah Levine
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Fitch Ratings took California's general obligation bond rating off credit watch on Wednesday, and said its BBB rating now has a stable outlook. Analysts said the revised outlook is based on the state's actions to resolve its near-term cash flow imbalance. Lawmakers closed a budget gap in late July, and the state plans to repay in September IOUs issued earlier, a month before originally stated. California, the lowest-rated state by the agency, still plans to issue revenue anticipation notes, or RANs, next month to meet cash flow needs for the rest of fiscal 2009-2010. The rating affects $79 billion in outstanding debt.
12:25PM Fed's Lockhart sees slow, jobless recovery by Greg Robb
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The economic recovery and the pace of improvement in the labor market will be "frustratingly slow," according to Dennis Lockhart, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. In a speech to a chamber of commerce audience in Chattanooga, Tenn., Lockhart said businesses seem likely to defer hiring until a pick-up in top-line demand is beyond doubt. When the Fed considers its exit strategy, the "quality" of the recovery will be more important than its "speed," Lockhart said. His remarks fit with the cautious tone about the economic outlook from policymakers reported by participants at the central bank's annual retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyo. last weekend.
11:56AM Health-care stocks fall after Sen. Kennedy dies (UNH, CI, AET, WLP, HUM) by Brittany Levine
Health-care stocks dropped Wednesday as investors assessed prospects for health-care reform in the wake of Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy's death Tuesday night. Shares of UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) fell 3%, Wellpoint Inc. (WLP) dropped 1.1%, Cigna Corp. (CI) lost 2%, Humana Inc. (HUM) retreated 1.8% and Aetna Inc. (AET) slid 1.4%. Kennedy died at age 77, after a battle with brain cancer, in the midst of a debate over a sweeping overhaul of the U.S health-care system, an effort he had described as "the cause of my life."
11:32AM Thrifts post profit but risks grow: reports by Sam Mamudi
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U. S. thrifts have reported their first quarterly profits in two years, according to published reports Wednesday -- but the number of firms and assets in trouble are rising. Dow Jones Newswires said that the Office of Thrift Supervision reported that thrifts saw a profit of $4 million in the second quarter, but thrifts considered more at risk of failure rose to 40, up from 31 in the previous quarter. The industry's troubled assets increased to 3.52% of total assets, up from 3.35% in the first quarter and 2.68% in the year-ago period. The full report will be released later on Wednesday. |
