China’s Dagong Global Credit Rating Co. has downgraded its credit ratings for U.S. government debt, citing political "deficiencies." Dagong is one of China’s major ratings agencies. It announced the cut in the local and foreign-currency sovereign ratings for the US from A- to BBB+.
The New York Fed reports the Empire State manufacturing survey fell to 17.7 in January from a revised 19.6 in December. Economists expected 18.6. This is the third straight monthly decline after the index hit 28.1 in October. New-orders and shipments fell while unfilled orders and inventory rose and future inventories hit a record high.
The price of bitcoin is down 11% to around $12,100, underlining a broad selloff among the world’s virtual currencies spurred by nagging fears of increased regulatory scrutiny in South Korea as well as ohter countries. The total value of cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap.com is about $590 billion, the lowest since December and down 30% from its peak reached last week.
Serving the West Side first, I am Bill Roller of BR Capital for 1360 KUIK.
