The UAE over the weekend provided a partial ‘Bridge Over Troubled Waters’ to those impacted by the Dubai request for a debt restructuring by giving assurances to local banks that have exposure to Dubai but they did not give any commentary on what they will do directly with Dubai and other creditors. Will it be tough love or just another bailout and is this whole episode a heavy debt overhang canary in the coal mine or specific to a well televised debt problem in Dubai? Either way, there was some relief over the weekend from the UAE and Asian stocks rallied sharply and the US$ is lower again. The National Retail Federation said Thanksgiving weekend sales were up a .5% versus the easy comparison of last year but was in line with their estimate as more people shopped but spent less per customer. A ton of economic data as well as Bernanke’s confirmation hearing on Thurs will dictate the week.
