by Calculated Risk on 10/10/2012 09:56:00 PM

From the Financial Times Alphaville: S&P downgrades Spain

On Oct. 10, 2012, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services lowered its long-term sovereign credit rating on the Kingdom of Spain to ‘BBB-’ from ‘BBB+’. At the same time, we lowered the short-term sovereign credit rating to ‘A-3′ from A-2′. The outlook on the long-term rating is negative.

Alphaville has the entire S&P press release.

And from the LA Times: Gasoline prices fall for first time in a week, barely

Motorists in the state paid an average of $4.666 for a gallon of regular gasoline Wednesday, down half a cent overnight, according to AAA's daily survey of fuel prices.

On Oct. 1, the day Exxon Mobil Corp.'s Torrance refinery went out of service temporarily because of a power outage, the average was $4.168. The average leaped to record levels, peaking Monday at $4.671, or 50 cents higher than a week earlier.

Ouch!

On Thursday:
• At 8:30 AM, the initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released. The consensus is for claims to increase to 370 thousand from 367 thousand.

• Also at 8:30 AM, the Trade Balance report for August will be released by the Census Bureau. The consensus is for the U.S. trade deficit to increase to $44.0 billion in August, up from from $42.0 billion in July. Export activity to Europe will be closely watched due to economic weakness.

• Also at 8:30 AM, Import and Export Prices for September will be released. The consensus is a for a 0.7% increase in import prices.

• At 10:00 AM, Fed Governor Jeremy Stein will speak, "Evaluating Large-Scale Asset Purchases", At the Brookings Institution Discussion, Washington, D.C.


Another question for the October economic prediction contest (Note: You can now use Facebook, Twitter, or OpenID to log in).