Investors lose faith in recovery
STEVE CHIOTKAIS: Now, investors are keeping their eyes peeled on a couple of major economic events today: July U.S. employment report, which comes out in about an hour and a half. And a conference call between French and German leaders to discuss what more they can do to bailout weaker European countries.
Marketplace’s Stephen Beard is with us live from London on that story. Hi, Stephen.
STEPHEN BEARD: Hi, Steve.
CHIOTAKIS: Why this historic drop all of a sudden — didn’t we already know about European debt?
BEARD: Yeah, but there is this growing fear that the big one is looming — that Italy won’t be bailed out. It’s too big to bail, and that could lead to a default by Italy, the third-biggest economy in the Eurozone. This is of course added to the additional worry that the U.S. may be headed for another recession. But the fundamental concern unnerving investors, according to Mark Ostwald of the Monument Securities firm is political. He says investors are worrying politicians are failing to tackle deep-rooted economic and financial problems, and not just on this side of the pond.
MARK OSTWALD: This crisis of governance that we have in the Eurozone is not limited to the Eurozone. In the U.S., obviously, the whole debate over the debt ceiling has created a loss of faith.
CHIOTAKIS: A loss of faith. So if everyone has lost faith, Stephen, what are investors doing? The money has to go somewhere.
BEARD: Ostwald says in fact they’re making a mistake. They’re dumping shares as well as government bonds. He says government bonds, given the political failures that we’re talking about, clearly is not the safe-haven as they used to be. He says investors should be buying the shares of U.S. and European companies.
CHIOTAKIS: Marketplace’s Stephen Beard in London. Stephen, thanks.
BEARD: OK, Steve.
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