Cartoon

New Year

(Cartoonist - Lalo Alcaraz)

In other news, Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton says he's willing to testify in the Senate's impeachment trial.

Meanwhile, the Borden Dairy Company, one of the nation's largest milk producers, has filed for bankruptcy. This follows Dean Foods' decision to file for bankruptcy in November and there's no end in sight to Trump's trade war.

Finally, Moody's investor services says a broad conflict between the United States and Iran would be very bad for the global economy.

“A lasting conflict would have wide-ranging implications through broad economic and financial shock that significantly worsen operating and financing conditions,” Moody’s senior analyst Alexander Perjessy wrote in a note to clients Monday.

“A protracted conflict would potentially have global repercussions, in particular through its effect on oil prices,” he added. [...]

Perjessy said that the effects of ongoing tensions would hit the broader economy — not just the oil and banking sectors — as things like tourism in the Middle East, for instance, would be impacted. He also noted that “increased risk aversion” would be negative for issuers, particularly those with “large external financing needs” and “relatively smaller or insufficient reserves.”

I hope everyone had a good holiday or at least made it through alive and with minimal damage. We're back in action here for the foreseeable future. It is an election year, after all.