Sovereign credit problems moved to the forefront of financial concerns today as Standard & Poor's downgraded Portugal's credit down two notches to A- and demoted Greece's debt to junk status (BBB-). The market rushed out of equities across the globe and into the U.S. dollar and into US bonds as a supposed "safe haven". For how long will the $U.S. be a safe haven? It's like jumping from a crumbling building into one that is creaking in preparation for something similar.
Anyway, gold moved up $14, in spite of the $U.S. index being up over 1% on the day. Now that is a more realistic safe haven play.
There appears to be a lot more trouble ahead on the sovereign credit front!
