In a Wall Street Journal interview, portfolio manager Axel Merk cautions that the financing requirements of the U.S. government may leave little money for the corporate and emerging market sovereign sectors that need to roll or raise debt in 2009:
" 'Its going extremely difficult, possibly because of these downgrades, especially in the emerging markets ,' says Axel Merk, head of Merk Investments. 'The first warning sign is Spain and Greece. For anybody who has to roll debt or issue debt, it is going to be more expensive.'
Mr. Merk believes the U.S. will eventually face similar trouble, ..."