Apparently attempting to make up for its fantasy ratings for the junk mortgage bonds, S&P downgrades dozens of banks.

All of the usual suspects are there, the ones that are ‘too big to fail’, but seem to be making a good attempt at doing just that. This will probably accelerate the trend of people moving their money into smaller, local banks and credit unions.

I expect a mattress company to start selling a ‘vault’ model to provide convenient access to your money, while keeping it more secure that a checking account.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has triggered a Public sector strike set to be largest for a generation

Up to two million public sector workers are staging a strike over pensions in what is set to be the biggest walkout for a generation.

Schools, hospitals, airports, ports and government offices will be among sites disrupted, as more than 1,000 demonstrations are due across the UK.

It would “achieve nothing”, Downing Street said, calling for more talks.
…

GMB union leader Paul Kenny said: “As well as the shameful unfairness of further pay restraint on already hard-pressed public sector workers, the chancellor’s announcements will push the possibility of a pensions deal further away.

“The [pension] contribution rises government want are plainly unjustified and unaffordable, while moving the goalposts on retirement age mid-negotiation smacks of deliberate deception. No doubt this will boost the strike turnout tomorrow.”

The problem is that the public sector workers were in negotiations with the government, and Chancellor George Osborne just unilaterally imposed all kinds of new limits on pay and changed the retirement age. Those were supposed to be part of the negotiations.

It has reached the point that the Conservatives are not viewed as taking negotiations seriously by the workers.

Corrente popped up when I checked at 5pm.