Financial Update :-
2009 federal deficit surges to $1.42 trillion
What is $1.42 trillion? It's more than the total national debt for the first 200 years of the Republic, more than the entire economy of India, almost as much as Canada's, and more than $4,700 for every man, woman and child in the United States.
It's the federal budget deficit for 2009, more than three times the most red ink ever amassed in a single year.
And, some economists warn, unless the government makes hard decisions to cut spending or raise taxes, it could be the seeds of another economic crisis.
Treasury figures released Friday showed that the government spent $46.6 billion more in September than it took in, a month that normally records a surplus. That boosted the shortfall for the full fiscal year ending Sept. 30 to $1.42 trillion. The previous year's deficit was $459 billion.
As a percentage of U.S. economic output, it's the biggest deficit since World War II.
"The rudderless U.S. fiscal policy is the biggest long-term risk to the U.S. economy," says Kenneth Rogoff, a Harvard professor and former chief economist for the International Monetary Fund. "As we accumulate more and more debt, we leave ourselves very vulnerable."
Bank of America, GE results push stocks lower
Stocks ended a strong week with a flash of selling after Bank of America Corp. and General Electric Co. signaled that businesses and consumers are still struggling to pay off their debts.
The market slid Friday as quarterly results from the companies dented hopes that earnings would show strong signs of improvement in the July-September period. A rise in oil also helped the market end well off its lows, repeating a pattern seen earlier in the week.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 67 points to finish just below the 10,000 mark, which it had broken through on Wednesday for the first time in a year. Despite the drop stocks still posted big gains for the week.
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