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GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks, oil, gold fall on growth worries

By Caroline Valetkevitch, Reuters

June 21, 2012

NEW YORK, June 21 (Reuters) – Global stocks fell more than 1 percent and Brent crude hit its lowest since December 2010 on Thursday following data showing Chinese, European and U.S. manufacturing activity had slowed further.

The weak data came just a day after the Federal Reserve extended its monetary stimulus program aimed at boosting the U.S. economy.

U.S. stocks added to losses after Goldman Sachs recommended shorting the benchmark S&P 500 index. All three major U.S. indexes were on track for their worst day since June 1.

Gold fell and was on track for its biggest decline in more than three months, hurt by global economic worries, while the U.S. dollar rose against the euro and yen as the Fed’s move disappointed investors who had hoped for a more aggressive policy.

Business activity across the euro zone shrank for a fifth straight month in June and Chinese manufacturing contracted, while weaker overseas demand slowed U.S. factory growth, surveys showed.

Moody’s Said to Be Poised to Announce Bank Downgrades Today

By Howard Mustoe, Bloomberg News

Jun 21, 2012 2:04 PM ET

Moody’s Investors Service has told banks it may later today announce downgrades of the credit ratings of as many as 17 lenders and securities firms with global capital markets operations, according to two people with knowledge of the plans.

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The company said in February it may lower the ratings of firms including UBS AG (UBSN), Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) and Barclays Plc (BARC) as part of a review of how Europe’s sovereign debt crisis was hurting more than 100 lenders. Any downgrades could raise borrowing costs and force banks to increase collateral.

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UBS, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley (MS)’s credit ratings may be cut by as many as three levels, Moody’s said in February. Barclays, BNP Paribas SA (BNP), Credit Agricole SA (ACA), HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), Deutsche Bank AG (DBK), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Citigroup Inc. (C), and Royal Bank of Canada (RY) may be lowered by two, Moody’s said.

Bank of America Corp., Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS) and Societe Generale SA (GLE) may be lowered by one grade, it said.

Oil falls below $90 for first time since Dec 2010

By Gene Ramos and David Sheppard, Reuters

Thu Jun 21, 2012 4:04pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Brent crude oil slid nearly 4 percent in heavy trading on Thursday, dropping below $90 a barrel for the first time in 18 months as weak economic data from China, the United States and Europe pointed to prospects for slower oil demand.

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Other major commodities also tumbled as gloomy global data darkened the demand outlook for raw materials.

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“Supply is outstripping demand and whatever other data you see out there won’t change that,” said Dominick Chrichella, senior partner at the Energy Management Institute in New York.

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China’s factory sector shrank for an eighth straight month in June as export order sentiment hit its weakest since early 2009, according to a survey indicating the country’s economic trough may extend well into the third quarter.

U.S. jobs data added to the gloom with little change last week in the number of Americans filing new unemployment claims.

Data also showed U.S. manufacturing grew in June at its slowest pace in 11 months, with hiring in the sector hobbled as overseas demand for U.S. products weakened, compounding the dreary economic outlook in the world’s largest oil consumer.

Business activity across the euro zone shrank for a fifth straight month in June, according to the closely watched Markit Flash Composite Purchasing Managers Index.

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“Really, what we’ve been calling ‘downward momentum’ would now be better described as ‘panic selling,'” said Tom Mooney at Southeast Energy in Houston, Texas.

“Even the most convinced bulls have had to face the reality that, at least for now, their portfolio has been getting ripped up, no doubt with margin calls forcing some to get out.”

Dow down -250.82.  Maria Bartiromo is a hopeless shill, even now plaintively whining “Isn’t there any valuation at which you’d buy banks?”