Whoops, Dubai Edition

clipped from www.breitbart.com "We have two major factors weighing on equities and other risk markets: Dubai's call for a moratorium on its debt repayment to May and more stringent capital adequacy requirements for Chinese banks -- but Dubai is bigger," David Morrison, an analyst at financial betting firm GFT, told AFP. The government of Dubai shocked financial markets on Wednesday when it said it would ask creditors of its Dubai World conglomerate for a debt moratorium of at least six months. In addition, the partial default by Dubai "fed a climate of insecurity and crisis of confidence at a time when fears are mounting about excessive public debt." As equities sank heavily, investors sought safety in the bond market and gold, which struck yet another record high point. Meanwhile, ratings agency Standard & Poor's said the development could be considered a default and downgraded a raft of Dubai government entities including Dubai World.