Told you important data coming, didn't I?

Now, we, of course, have nasty comments about Rating Agencies as usual..... but below is what you need to know of SP's decision motives, rating being a consequence not a guess....

"The outlook is negative, reflecting the possibility of another downgrade if Spain's fiscal position worsens more than S&P currently expects, the agency said in a statement.
'In our opinion, Spain is likely to have an extended period of subdued economic growth, which weakens its budgetary position,' Standard&Poor's said.
'We now project that real GDP growth will average 0.7 percent annually in 2010-2016, versus our previous expectations of above 1 percent annually over this period,' S&P said."

So, clearly, no budget discipline and excessive borrowing and social spending during the confortable growth period leads to a debt crisis when the economy contracts leaving the bill to the people and no solution to finance a Recovery Act to jumpstart the economy.

True for Greece? Spain? Could be.

Recommended reading : The Conference Board

Said Jean-Claude Manini, The Conference Board Senior Economist for Europe: "The monthly pick-up in the LEI for the Euro Area is mainly the result of rebounding confidence indicators, but it is too early to treat this as an improvement in the trend of moderating growth in the LEI. Moreover, the growth rate for the CEI remains very slow and current forecasts suggest no short-term improvement in job creation. The economy continues to face substantial headwinds related to weak construction, volatile orders and increased concerns over public finances."

For today (your time) :

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/euroindicators/peeis (04/29/10)