Successful Syria operation boosts Russians’ interest in politics, researchers claim

Sociologists have registered record growth in the Russian citizens’ interest to politics and researchers tie this fact to Russia’s recent successes on the international arena, especially its anti-ISIS operation in Syria.

 

According to the latest research conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), 48 percent of Russians say they are interested in politics, which is the highest figure since 2001. Forty-nine percent of responders said that politics was not at the top of their interests’ list, and 3 percent said it was difficult to give a direct and simple answer to this question. For comparison, in 2010 the share of Russians who said that they considered politics to be an important subject was 30 percent and 64 percent said that they had no interest in politics whatsoever.

https://www.rt.com/politics/342076-interest-to-politics-on-rise/

 

“SPIKE IN DEFAULTS”: STANDARD & POOR’S GETS GLOOMY, BLAMES FED

Credit rating agencies, such as Standard & Poor’s, are not known for early warnings. They’re mired in conflicts of interest and reluctant to cut ratings for fear of losing clients. When they finally do warn, it’s late and it’s feeble, and the problem is already here and it’s big.

So Standard & Poor’s, via a report by S&P Capital IQ, just warned about US corporate borrowers’ average credit rating, which at “BB,” and thus in junk territory, hit a record low, even “below the average we recorded in the aftermath of the 2008-2009 credit crisis.”

The one-year average default rate for US companies with a credit rating of B- is 9.8%, according to Standard & Poor’s. That’s a 1-in-10 chance that the company will default over the next 12 months. Companies getting downgraded deep into junk and issuing more low-grade bonds are precursors to soaring defaults

http://www.infowars.com/spike-in-defaults-standard-poors-gets-gloomy-blames-fed/

 

If the Fed is hiking interest rates in September, the market isn’t showing

China’s recent move to devalue the yuan USDCNY, +0.0094%  (it is currently about 4% weaker against the dollar), which has roiled global markets, is being blamed for muddling the Fed-hike-probability picture: Read: China yuan devaluation is a game changer for Fed on rates.

Even if the Federal Open Market Committee decides to begin so-called liftoff of interest rates at its two-day policy meeting starting Sept. 16, here are some of the factors that don’t seem to be signaling that a September rate hike is in the cards:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wall-street-doesnt-think-the-fed-is-ready-to-hike-interest-rates-in-september-2015-08-12?siteid=yhoof2

If the Fed is hiking interest rates in September, the market isn’t showing

China’s recent move to devalue the yuan USDCNY, +0.0094%  (it is currently about 4% weaker against the dollar), which has roiled global markets, is being blamed for muddling the Fed-hike-probability picture: Read: China yuan devaluation is a game changer for Fed on rates.

Even if the Federal Open Market Committee decides to begin so-called liftoff of interest rates at its two-day policy meeting starting Sept. 16, here are some of the factors that don’t seem to be signaling that a September rate hike is in the cards:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wall-street-doesnt-think-the-fed-is-ready-to-hike-interest-rates-in-september-2015-08-12?siteid=yhoof2