Sunday, May 09, 2010

Dow Plunge is Wake-Up Call to Deal With Debt

From CNNMoney.com:

Technical glitch. Violence in Greece. Historic U.K. elections. A combination of these factors sent the Dow plummeting nearly 1,000 points Thursday before regaining two-thirds of the ground lost.

But here's the thing: the market could be in for a very bumpy ride in the coming months -- except it won't have technical glitches to blame. U.S. debts, more likely than not, could be an underlying culprit.

In any case, Thursday's Dow drama should be a wake-up call that policymakers heed, said Allen Sinai, chief economist and president of Decision Economics.

The story now is Greece's debt crisis, and the fear of debt contagion to Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Spain -- and EU's neighbor, the United Kingdom.

All of that may spell trouble for U.S. exports six to 18 months from now, Sinai said.