U.S. politicians have finally done a deal. If only they'd taken one more day, writes The Motley Fool.
We can't understand those American politicians.
With still well over a day left on the Debt-Ceiling Deadline clock, they announce a deal has been done to raise the U.S. debt ceiling. You can read all the gory detail here on ninemsn.
We can't help but think they could have drawn out this self-inflicted crisis a little longer.
We were already enjoying the cheaper share prices this whole episode presented us with.
Take these larger companies for example, just to name a few…
| Company | 30-day share price movement |
| DuluxGroup (ASX: DLX) | (7.8%) |
| DUET Group (ASX: DUE) | (6.9%) |
| TPG Telecom (ASX: TPM) | (5.3%) |
| CSL (ASX: CSL) | (5.0%) |
| Origin Energy (ASX: ORG) | (4.5%) |
| Primary Healthcare (ASX: PRY) | (3.9%) |
Source: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poors
Real bargains
If those pesky politicians had waited another day, we might have been looking at some real bargains.
Instead, a relieved S&P/ASX 200 jumped 2% higher, with most stocks rising.
Not surprisingly, banks and financials were to the fore, National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB) and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) leading the way amongst the former, AMP (ASX: AMP) and Perpetual (ASX: PPT) jumping for the latter.
Ah well. We'll remain patient, for if one thing is guaranteed in these difficult economic times, another 'crisis' won't be far away.
Phew
Here at The Motley Fool we've long been confident the U.S. politicians would get the deal done and raise the debt-ceiling.
Admittedly, the whole affair has taken a little longer than we anticipated, but there's no predicting politicians, whose main agenda is to maximise their own personal chances of being re-elected at the next election.
Hold the applause
Relief is a great emotion. Today, world stock markets are applauding the U.S. politicians.
But markets are even more fickle than politicians. One day they'll be euphoric, putting the troubles of the world behind them. But just as quickly, they can fall into a fit of depression, in the process playing tricks with your own emotions.
Meanwhile, we'll just carry on trying to identify good companies trading cheaply. Call us overly optimistic, but for The Motley Fool, today's crisis is tomorrow's opportunity.
More reading:
Free report: Read this before the market crashes
Of the companies mentioned, Bruce Jackson has a beneficial interest in ANZ and NAB. The Motley Fool's disclosure policy doesn't require re-election.
