Quick Overview

• The subprime and "A" rating for Lehman  expert S&P downgrades US debt to AA+, late on Friday.

• The U.S. unemployment rate edged down to 9.1 percent in July from 9.2% in June. The total number of unemployed stood at 13.9 million. The number of long-term unemployed who have been jobless for at least 27 weeks stood at 6.2 million, accounting for 44.4% of the total unemployed.

• (Bloomberg) China’s annual corn imports may grow to more than 10 million metric tons in five years as the increase in demand outpaces expansion in output, a researcher at South China Grain Trade Center said.

• U.S. Consumer credit grew 7.7% in June.