Red Ink Watch

'Public Option' May Get a Second Chance in Health Bill

By Peter Barnes| FOXBusiness| Markets

… and fees on insurance and health care companies. In addition, CBO and JCT estimated the Baucus plan would cut the federal deficit by $49 billion over 10 years. You can read the CBO's portion of the analysis here. You can read the JCT's portion here …

Story|09/20/2009

Oil Slips Below $72 as Dollar Rises

Reuters| Markets

… and softer equities cooled risk appetite. Recovery hopes in the U.S. and the prospect of low U.S. yields and fiscal deficit concerns have fuelled dollar selling this month, sending the index down 2.4 percent in September, its worst monthly performance …

Story|09/18/2009

U.K. Aug. Public Borrowing Soars As Receipts Drop

By William L. Watts| MarketWatch Pulse| Markets

… pounds. The figures left the government with a current budget deficit of 12.8 billion pounds, while net debt totaled 804.8 billion ..... equal to 57.5% of gross domestic product. A year ago, the deficit stood at 7.7 billion pounds and net debt totaled 632.8 …

Story|09/18/2009

Euro-zone July Trade Surplus Exceeds Expectations

By William L. Watts| MarketWatch Pulse| Markets

… the largest in seven years. Economists had forecast a 9 billion euro surplus. The region posted a 3.5 billion euro trade deficit in July 2008. The June 2009 surplus was revised up to 5.4 billion euros from an earlier estimate of 4.6 billion euros …

Story|09/17/2009

British Airways, Air France-KLM Ratings Swapped

By Steve Goldstein| MarketWatch Pulse| Markets

… attraction is that British Airways could look different in six months through M&A, cost-cutting and a solution to its pension deficit . While Air France-KLM looks compelling on valuation metrics, its poor fuel hedging compared to BA and Lufthansa will hinder …

Story|09/17/2009

Senate Panel Releases U.S. Health Care Reform Plan

By Joanna Ossinger| FOXBusiness| Markets

… worked to build a balanced, common-sense package that ensures quality, affordable coverage and doesn’t add a dime to the deficit ,” Baucus said in the release. “Now, we can finally pass legislation that will rein in health care costs and deliver …

Story|09/16/2009

Dollar Stays Down After Inflation Report

By Deborah Levine| MarketWatch Pulse| Other Stories

… action. Excluding food and energy, CPI rose 0.1%. Separately, the Commerce Department said the U.S. current account deficit narrowed to $98.8 billion in the second quarter, or 2.8% of gross domestic product. Still to come is data on industrial …

Story|09/16/2009

Q2 Current Account Deficit Narrows To 2.8 % Of GDP

By Greg Robb| MarketWatch Pulse| Markets

… WASHINGTON - The U.S. current account deficit narrowed to $98.8 billion in the second ..... percentage terms, this is the smallest deficit since the first quarter of 1991. In dollar terms, the deficit is the lowest since the fourth quarter …

Story|09/16/2009

Growth in 2% Range Over Near Term-Report

Reuters| Markets

… tax increases on the middle class after 2013 to help pay for today's massive stimulus spending and to reduce the federal deficit . "The structural problem facing the economy is that you have wealth-impaired consumers that need to repair balance sheets …

Story|09/16/2009

By the Numbers: The Financial Meltdown

By Kathryn Buschman Vasel and Lauren Covello| FOXBusiness| Markets

… funds rate was a range of 0% to 0.25%. -- The FOMC cut its target rate seven times in 2008. -- The national budget deficit climbs to $486 billion in the first 11 months of the fiscal year 2008, which runs through September 30. -- Shares of Lehman …

Story|09/15/2009