and to that another round of bickering over the budget in washington with yet more threats of a government shutdown. and today in europe, news that moody s had downgraded the debt ratings of eight greek banks by not one but two notches. that instability in europe had investigators investors a bit edgy. gerri willis is with us. there is a lot that is driving this turmoil out there. that s right, trace. you mentioned it, worries about a recession. not just any recession, a global recession. these fears this week really concentrating on greece. you mentioned moody s downgrade of eight greek banks. it wasn t just the downgrade that mattered. it was the language they used. moody s said that small debt restructurings can be followed by larger defaults. what that means is there could be a domino effect if greece goes down. worries that other countries would face similar default issues as well. german chancellor angela merkel
we submit that the board should resist further extraordinary intervention in the u.s. economy. they questioned how much previous moves have helped economic growth and job creation and said fed policies may be hurting the dollar and encouraging more consumer debt. no comment from the fed tonight. bret? bret: okay. we ll watch it. thank you. the fed move did not sit well with investors. the dow fell sharply after the announcement, finishing off 284 points. the s & p 500 dropped 35. nasdaq lost 52. sales of previously occupied homes were up 7.7% in august. but that was fueled by an increase in foreclosures. moody s has lowered the debt ratings for bank of america, wells fargo, and citigroup. it says it s less likely the government would step in and prevent them from fail not guilty a crisis. bank of america was hit hardest. its long-term debt downgraded two steps.
interest rates. well, reviews have already been scathing. the dow tumbled with traders disappointed by the investment shuffle rather than a third direct injection of cash into the economy or so-called qe3. economists doubt it will even help, and even within the fed, three of ten members voting dissented. the fed also forecasts gloom saying the economy faces significant downside risks, including lengthy struggles with slow growth, high unemployment, and slumping housing. insurers who depend on investments to cover costs were hit hard. lincoln national tumbled 8%. investors seeking safe havens sent the ten-year treasury yield to a new record low. banks led decliners after moody s cut the debt ratings of bank of america, wells fargo, and citigroup on fear the government may balk at any future bailouts. hewlett-packard jumped on rumors that the company may oust its current head for a former
we submit that the board should resist further extraordinary intervention in the u.s. economy. they questioned how much previous moves have helped economic growth and job creation and said fed policies may be hurting the dollar and encouraging more consumer debt. no comment from the fed tonight. bret? bret: okay. we ll watch it. thank you. the fed move did not sit well with investors. the dow fell sharply after the announcement, finishing off 284 points. the s & p 500 dropped 35. nasdaq lost 52. sales of previously occupied homes were up 7.7% in august. but that was fueled by an increase in foreclosures. moody s has lowered the debt ratings for bank of america, wells fargo, and citigroup. it says it s less likely the government would step in and prevent them from fail not guilty a crisis. bank of america was hit hardest. its long-term debt downgraded two steps. we ll tell you how some world
such a roller coaster as you said. as we move in to next week, we re getting down to crunch time. you have the debt ratings, the debt agencies saying they re really threatening a potential downgrade even if which seems crazy, even if the debt ceilings is raised they re talking about a downgrade which seems a little out of line giving that they were not exactly on the case during the subprime housing mess. putting that aside, how should average americans, our viewers right now, make sense as we go into next week of whether there s really going to be progress toward washington getting its act together to do what has to be done? i think they should watch first to see if there is real support on both the democratic and the republican side of the aisle. if there s not, if you ve got folks in the tea party and the most progressive wing of the democratic party just going at each other, it s not going to happen. what we ve got to do is see by early next week a balanced approach. i think th