This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。
A "rollercoaster ride" is one description for these days of scary ups and downs in financial markets. If you want to use a more technical term, the markets are showing volatility.
“坐过山车”是对金融市场这些天暴涨暴落的一个形象描述。用专业术语来说就是，市场出现大幅波动。
Thursday was another example of a day of strong gains on the New York Stock Exchange after a day of heavy losses.
在经历前一天的重创后，纽约证券交易所上周四再次强劲上扬。
Major measures of United States markets have closed with their biggest one-day losses since the financial crisis of two thousand eight. Asia and Europe have also had sharp declines.
美国市场主要指标已经接近2008年金融危机以来的最大单日损失。亚欧市场也大幅下跌。
Volatile markets can react suddenly in wild and unpredictable ways. Usually some kind of shock, or more than one, is involved.
震荡的市场会以放任和不可预知的方式迅速回应。这通常会包括一种或一种以上的冲击。
For example, last Friday, one of the three major credit rating agencies downgraded long-term United States government debt. Standard & Poor's lowered its opinion of Treasury securities one step from the highest rating, triple-A, to AA-plus.
例如，上周五，三大信用评级机构之一的标普（Standard & Poor's，简称 S&P's）降低了美国长期债务的信用等级，将美国国债信用等级从最高的AAA调低到AA+。
But shocks like a hopeful jobs report or good earnings results can stop a fall and send prices higher. (Also, when prices fall, investors may find good deals and start buying.)
但乐观的就业报告或良好业绩等冲击会阻止下跌并进一步推高价格。（此外，在价格下跌时，投资者可能会发现划算的交易并开始买入。）
The United States held S&P's top rating for seventy years and never had a downgrade. But many investors were expecting that to happen even after the budget deal in Washington. Congress last week agreed to increase the government's borrowing limit in return for steps to cut spending and reduce the deficit.
美国保持标普最高信用评级长达70年从未被降级。但许多投资者都曾希望这事发生，即使在华盛顿出台预算协议后。国会上周同意提高政府借贷限额，换取政府逐步削减支出和减少赤字。
S&P says it thinks America's debt will only increase in the future. President Obama disagreed.
标普表示，它认为美国债务将来只会继续增加。奥巴马对此表示不认同。
BARACK OBAMA: "It does mean we don't have a problem. The fact is, we didn't need a rating agency to tell us that we need a balanced, long-term approach to deficit reduction. That was true last week, that was true last year, that was true the day I took office."
奥巴马：“这表明美国没有问题，事实是，我们并不需要评级机构告诉我们，我们必须用一种平衡、长期的手段来削减赤字。上个星期是这样，去年是这样，在我就职的时候就是这样。”
He said this week that markets still consider United States credit "as among the world's safest."
奥巴马表示，这一星期，市场仍然认为美国信用是世界上最安全的。
Still, there are growing worries of another recession -- a double dip. On Tuesday, policy makers at the central bank said economic growth so far this year has been "considerably slower" than they had expected. The Federal Reserve said it would likely keep short-term interest rates near zero for at least two more years.
然而，市场一直担忧另一次衰退，即所谓“双底”。上周二，美国央行政策制定者表示，与预期相比，迄今为止美国今年的经济增长一直“相当缓慢”。美联储表示，它们可能至少在未来两年多时间里，继续保持短期利率接近于0。
Borrowing costs for the United States remain very low. But debt worries in two of Europe's biggest economies have increased costs for their governments in recent weeks.
美国借贷成本仍然很低。但最近几周，欧洲两大经济体（指西班牙和意大利）的债务担忧已经提升了其政府借贷成本。
On Monday the European Central Bank began buying debt securities from Spain and Italy. These efforts have helped push down interest rates for those countries. Nick Parsons, an economist with the National Australia Bank, says the bank made the right move.
上周一，欧洲央行开始购买西班牙和意大利债券。这些措施已经帮助压低了这些国家的利率。澳大利亚国民银行的经济学家尼克·帕森斯（Nick Parsons）表示，欧洲央行做出了正确的决定。
NICK PARSONS: "It has been an absolutely critical decision."
帕森斯：“这是一个绝对关键的决定。”
But he also thinks the bank will have to buy more. And Europe must still deal with the rescues of Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
但他也认为，欧洲央行将必须购买更多债券。同时欧洲必须继续救援希腊、爱尔兰和葡萄牙。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译享有全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)