Standard and Poor's, which is a credit rating agency, has downgraded France's credit this morning. This is one of the reasons why the markets are down so far today. The French downgrade is the same thing that happened to the U.S. credit rating last year. Basically all it means is that the French economy is struggling and the government is spending more money than they are taking in. I don't take the downgrade this morning as a negative thing as many economist and market watchers have been expecting such. On a brighter note, Germany's positive credit rating was reaffirmed by S&P this morning.
Here in the states, the Michigan confidence survey (where the University takes a survey of businesses) that was released this morning showed improvement for the fifth consecutive month; as I've written, I continue to believe things are getting better.
Btw Parlez-vous Francais means "do you speak french" (I had to look it up!).
