Investing

The stock market tends to do better in quarters when earnings are falling.

'I’m about as bearish as I’ve been since 2008,' says Hedgeye's Keith McCullough. He's steering investors to cash, gold and other defensive plays.

A Brazil-focused exchange-traded fund is surging as the country’s top two presidential candidates head for a runoff vote following Sunday’s surprisingly tight election results.

For a fund manager focused on utility stocks, how these highly-regulated companies prep for and react to storms like the powerful Ian can be a valuable test.

Money and investing stories popular with MarketWatch readers over the past week.

Also, how to pick preferred stocks, opportunities in a bear market, preparing for a recession and reverse mortgages.

S&P Global Ratings on Friday moved its outlook on the U.K.'s AA sovereign credit rating to "negative" from "stable," citing concerns about the country's fiscal outlook. The British pound tumbled and yields on British government bonds, or gilts, soared after Treasury chief Kwasi Kwarteng on Sept. 23 unveiled a mini-budget plan that included 45 billion pounds in unfunded tax cuts. The Bank of England this week stepped in to buy gilts in an effort to stabilize the bond market. S&P, in a statement, said it now expects the U.K. government deficit to widen by an average 2.6% of gross domestic product annually through 2025, while net general government debt will continue on an upward trajectory, "in contrast to our previous expectation of it declining as a percentage of GDP from 2023." The ratings firm said the U.K. "continues to face balance-of-payment risks stemming from its persistently large current account deficit, which we forecast will widen to 6% of GDP this year, in part driven by higher costs of energy imports."

The debt crisis is here, Nouriel Roubini says. Expect central banks to wimp out in their fight against inflation as financial distress deepens

Europe's efforts to bring down soaring energy prices could help to cool record high inflation, says Morgan Stanley.

Asian shares rose Tuesday, encouraged by a rally in U.S. shares after some weak economic data raised hopes that the Federal Reserve might ease away from aggressive interest rate hikes.

Itochu Corp. shares rose sharply Tuesday morning after the Japanese trading house boosted its fiscal-year earnings guidance and announced a share buyback plan.