Two Bits of Certainty

Oven mittens, anyone? Investors dropped stocks like hot potatoes around the world on Monday, the first day of trading since Standard & Poor’s historic downgrade of U.S. debt. And if you’re going to lend oven mitts, make sure the borrowers have a solid reputation.

In Asian stock markets, trading finished down again on Tuesday, while European stock markets are still tumbling. And the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 5.5 percent on Monday, its first time tunneling below 11,000 since November.

Some blame the ratings agencies and the liberal American politicians who support their influence, as The Wall Street Journal editorial page did on Monday. The paper took the extra political step to say that agencies should also rate how governments balance their books, as opposed to just the balance.

For others, U.S. bonds remain the safest way to invest in debt, such as Sunday’s Financial Times. The most optimistic of the pundits think that the downgrade could even spur federal officials to finally get America’s fiscal house in order.

One bit of certainty is that even pundits agreed that the writing had been on the wall -- political paralysis, a government within days of default and a rating agency publicly warming up its downgrade pen were all signals. And, yes, the European debt crisis, the threat of another financial meltdown and other factors are contributing to global market uncertainty.

Another bit of certainty is that U.S. debt is still a good investment, no matter what a rating agency says. Don’t forget S&P’s track record with financial instruments that caused the financial crisis in 2008.

U.S. investors took the mitts off on Tuesday morning, anticipating some stabilizing news from the Fed