The start of a whole new way of thinking. More is less and less is more. FICO and credit companies have had their fun in the sun way too long. Now the creditors themselves are maxed out.
No personal experience with them mak. I've just been in awe watching the run since $40, and waiting for them to make a sustained move down, which hasn't even happened yet.
At least for now, MA is really an inverse play on credit. As more and more americans find it tough to borrow on housing, they will use other forms of credit like cc's. MA and V don't make loans, they just collect a fee for using the card. More use of cc=more fees to MA and V. The banks are on the hook for the money. As far as an idication of what's happening on a macro level, I would guess its bearish for the market on the whole, since it shows the consumer is stretched. You have to wonder what happens when they max out the cc's. The banks and cc co's like COF will crack before MA and V.