Monday trading day was as expected a tough one as speculations about Greece debt continued. Several events contributed to those rumors during the day. On Monday, the country's finance minister held an emergency teleconference with its international creditors. They are pressuring the government on austerity measures to reduce Greece's debt. Investors fear Greece won't be able to convince lenders that it can pay its debts -- and that it won't get the money it needs to avoid a default on debts that must be paid next month. Late Monday, Greece's finance minister said that the 2 1/2-hour conference call was "productive and substantive." Hope that Greece might be closer to qualifying for rescue funds started a late comeback. The Dow gained about 100 points in the last hour of trading. But investors also appeared pessimistic about a Federal Reserve policy decision expected Wednesday. Some economists believe that since the Fed decided to hold a two-day meeting instead of the originally planned one-day session that it was preparing to take steps to stimulate the economy. However, other analysts doubt that the Fed will announce a new plan for the economy.

Other striking Monday news that occurred after markets closed was S&P downgrading Italy's long- and short-term sovereign credit ratings to "A/A-1" from "A+/A-1+." Last week, Italy's Parliament gave final approval to Premier Silvio Berlusconi's government's austerity measures, a combination of higher taxes, pension reform and spending cuts. The planned cuts and taxes sparked street protests in Rome similar to those in other European countries trying to come to grips with the economic crisis. Tuesday trading day will show reaction of the investors, yet we already may state that growth will not be an option.

UAIndex