A first look at 2012

This Week in Business ended with a thud, as S&P dropped the ratings of 9 European countries. France and Austria lost their AAA status, as the problems of the peripheral countries have now come squarely home to the core economies of the continent. Germany's top rating was reaffirmed, but Spain and Italy dropped 2 notches, and all of the downgraded countries remained on negative watch. This indicates significant risk of further downgrades. As Europe continues to struggle with its crisis, this is not good news, as these countries are likely to face higher interest rates in future. The Euro dropped dramatically as rumours hit the market prior to the announcement. The Euro fell to multi month lows against the US and Canadian dollars, while the loonie weakening only slightly against the greenback. Commodities and stocks also fell on the news. Tensions over Iranian nuclear ambitions continue to rise, much to the chagrin of oil consumers around the world.


Despite all these concerns, Toronto finished a fairly solid week at 12231, while the Dow ended at 12422. The Nasdaq finished at 2711, and the S&P finished at 1289. Oil fell to 98.30, gold finished at 1639, and the Canadian dollar fell to 97.70 Despite European weakness, early indications coming from multinational quarterly results are pretty positive.

In this week's Beyond Funds Market Weekly, I discussed income generating investment alternatives for 2012. Click here for the podcast. http://www.am980.ca/BeyondFundsPodcasting.aspx