Charting Stocks

22 national and regional banks were downgraded today by the S&P’s credit rating service. Among some of the larger names were  Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), U.S. Bancorp (USB), PNC Financial (PNC), BB&T Corp (BBT) and KeyCorp (KEY).
The ratings of several smaller regional banks were cut to “Junk” status by the S&P. [...]

Standard & Poor’s downgraded the credit rating of Ireland for the second time this year.  S&P cited the vast amount of money the government must continue to throw at the nations banking system.
The rating was cut down to AA, from AA+,  moving it to the same  level the United Arab Emirates as Japan, and Slovenia [...]

Much has been made (mostly by the mainstream media) over the recent rally in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Many of the usual suspects, including those that have been wrong for the past 3 years, have been quick to call a bottom. We, as technicians, tend to pay little attention to CNBC, Fox Business, etc. [...]

We’ve been warning about the insurance stocks and Hartford in particular for months.  See these posts:
The Coming Annuity Crisis
Forecast 2009 (We predict another major insurance company failure in 2009, with Hartford as the leading candidate)
Today the Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it cut the ratings of Hartford Financial Services Group’s counterparty credit rating [...]

HSBC requested that trading of its shares be suspended in Hong Kong ahead of an “announcement of a corporate action.” The company is expected to announce the divestment of its US consumer lending business. Shares are expected to begin trading again on Tuesday.
In 2003, HSBC purchased the US consumer lending firm Household International Inc. [...]

Alabama’s Jefferson County is unable to make a $636 million sewer debt payment due Friday. The county will hold an emergency meeting to vote on an extension request which they hope will buy some time.
The county was recently downgraded by the ratings agencies which resulted in accelerated principal and interest payments due to banks.  The [...]

The Federal Reserve Board announced that loan delinquencies for the 4th quarter of 2008 grew at the fastest pace since the fed started keeping records in 1985. Banks were forced to charge-off a record $48.5 billion in the quarter compared with $13.9 billion in the same period last year.
Residential real estate delinquincies rose to a [...]

The Dow Jones reports that the cost of protecting Citigroup’s (C) subordinated debt against default rose to distressed levels Tuesday amid widespread uncertainty over what new government involvement in the banking giant would entail. Credit default swaps on Citi’s subordinated debt are trading at 8/11 points up front, according to Phoenix Partners Group. That means [...]

In an effort to curb the growing loan deficiencies and defaults, American Express is offering its cardholders a $300 gift card to close their account and pay off the balance by May 1st.
The scheme comes as ratings agencies have warned that rising credit-card delinquencies could push the charge-off rate into the double digits by [...]

The credit worthiness of the United States is deteriorating rapidly and may lead to a credit rating downgrade.
In our 2009 forecast, we mentioned that the United States may be downgraded this year.  The trillions of dollars being pumped into a dying financial system will have its consequences. The treasury is expected to issue $2 trillion [...]