Will Recent European Elections Mean Downturn For U.S. Stock Market?
DETROIT (WWJ) - The tough-talking French president whom many voters blame for the country's economic troubles has been defeated. Mild-mannered Socialist Francois Hollande defeated Nicolas Sarkozy in Sunday's election.
Companies all across the United States, especially here in Michigan, have a lot riding on what happens in Europe.
Fox 2 and WWJ Business Editor Murray Feldman says a lot has happened in the past two weeks:
"Look what happened just over the past week and a half; here in Michigan both Ford and General Motors reported losses in their European operations - their stocks started to slide and they have yet to recover," said Feldman. "All of that is because countries over there are in a recession, jobless rates are high, as high as 22 percent in some places like Greece. It severely impacts U.S. companies trying to do business over there and their abilities to turn a global profit."
Several economists say the election results raise doubts about Europe's ability to solve the crisis with bailouts and government cuts. They say investors may sell stocks and bonds of some European countries because of the uncertainty.
