Economy

• Saturday, January 14th 2012 - 06:20 UTC

  S&P Friday the 13th for Euro zone; nine countries suffer the rating scimitar

  

  The worst-kept secret on Wall Street was officially confirmed after the close Friday, when Standard & Poor’s downgraded its sovereign debt rating on France to AA+ from AAA. Spain and Italy saw their ratings cut two notches, while Germany’s AAA rating was left unchanged.

• Saturday, January 14th 2012 - 06:03 UTC

  Brazil warns it is ready to respond to Argentina’s new trade restrictions

  

  Brazil's government is ready to respond to Argentine trade restrictions introduced this week but will evaluate the impact of the measures before making any retaliatory moves, trade officials said Friday.

• Friday, January 13th 2012 - 21:48 UTC

  UK producer prices drop in December; further emergency stimulus anticipated

  

  The prices of goods leaving Britain's factories surprisingly fell in December compared with November, confirming expectations that inflation is set to ease further this year, official data showed Friday.

• Friday, January 13th 2012 - 21:18 UTC

  S&P downgrades France’s rating; Greek swap talks on hold; Euro hits new low

  

  Stock markets and the Euro traded lower Friday as Greek debt swap talks were put on hold and France’s Finance minister confirmed that Standard & Poor’s has downgraded the country’s credit rating.

• Friday, January 13th 2012 - 21:13 UTC

  Several groups interested in taking over bankrupt American Airlines

  

  US Airways Group, Delta Airlines and private equity firm TPG Capital are among several parties interested in potential bids for AMR Corp, the bankrupt parent of American Airlines according to US financial media reports.

• Friday, January 13th 2012 - 20:15 UTC

  Non-official Argentine inflation hits 1.9% in December and 22.81% in 2011

  

  Argentine opposition lawmakers presented December’s consumer inflation index based in the analysis of nine private agencies, which showed a 1.9% increase over the previous month and totalling 22.81% for the twelve months of 2011, roughly double the official index.

• Friday, January 13th 2012 - 19:51 UTC

  Obama asks Congress for a 1.2 trillion dollars increase in US debt limit

  

  US President Barack Obama formally notified Congress that he plans a 1.2 trillion dollars increase in the US debt limit, setting the stage for Republicans to level election-year charges that deficits are out of control.

• Friday, January 13th 2012 - 14:48 UTC

  Falklands plans to export 30.000 lambs this season from upgraded abattoir

  

  The Falkland Islands Meat Company (FIMCo) may export up to 30,000 lambs in the coming season compared to 26,000 last year in an abattoir successfully upgraded by local companies, reports the Penguin News in this week’s edition.

• Thursday, January 12th 2012 - 21:52 UTC

  FAO Food prices index in spite of mild drop, reached highest average in 2011

  

  Food prices fell in December 2011 with the FAO Food Price Index dropping 2.4%, or five points from November, FAO said on Thursday. At its new level of 211 points, the Index was 11.3% (27 points) below its peak in February 2011.

• Thursday, January 12th 2012 - 21:31 UTC

  Argentina and IMF moving closer, admit holding regular bilateral contact

  

  Speaking at a press conference from Washington DC on Thursday, IMF acting director of External Relations Gerry Rice said the organization’s directors “will meet in late January or early February to analyze the progress made in Argentina’s statistics”.