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05 Dec 2011 19:58

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World: S&P could downgrade Euro countries’ credit ratings, because they’re no fun

  • 15 number of European countries S&P put on “creditwatch negative,” meaning that there’s a 50/50 chance of an upcoming downgrade; all use the Euro as currency
  • two number of countries that didn’t get the Euro which didn’t receive the downgrade — Cyprus (which already is “creditwatch negative”) and Greece (which is Greece) source
  • » A serious dent in the stock market’s mood: Earlier in the day, things were looking up — France and Germany, the two responsible parents of the region, pushed a new treaty to convince the rest of the region to shape up, and Italy’s Mario Monti made a good impression on investors by introducing a sweeping austerity plan in the country over the weekend — but the S&P decision sucked the life out of the room. It’s not the first time S&P has played the heavy, either.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Nov 2011 23:59

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Biz: Don’t look down: Ratings agency says they could downgrade U.S. too

  • The negative outlook indicates a slightly greater than 50 percent chance of a downgrade over a two-year horizon.
  • Credit ratings agency Fitch • Explaining the negative outlook they gave the U.S.’ AAA credit rating. Why the lower outlook? Well, they say there’s “considerable uncertainty surrounding the economy’s potential output.” Well, there won’t be as long as we can figure out a way to turn riots over $2 waffle irons into a sustainable moneymaking endeavor for the U.S. economy at large. We’re sure we can make it happen. Fitch’s downgraded outlook follows S&P’s straight-up downgrade a few months back. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Sep 2011 16:52

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Biz: Stock market suckage: A crappy quarter, put to bed by a crappy day

  • bad Today was not a good day for the stock market in general, with all three major indexes down more than two percent amid negative economic data from China, which raised fears that another economic slowdown was coming.
  • worse This is the final day of the quarter on Wall Street, and the results aren’t very good. The S&P, for example, lost more than 14 percent this quarter. Fears of an economic slowdown weighed on investors’ minds after the 2008 crisis. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Sep 2011 14:20

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Biz: S&P parent and textbook maven McGraw-Hill to split in two

  • what McGraw-Hill, a company best-known for two things, school textbooks and credit ratings, will be splitting these incongruent halves into two public companies. They’re the parent company of S&P, whose president recently announced his resignation.
  • why The company has taken heat from a couple of activist shareholders in recent months, on top of the heat S&P has taken for lowering the U.S. credit rating and their role in the financial crisis. The company says this plan was already in the cards, though. Suuuure. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Aug 2011 21:49

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Biz: S&P’s President Deven Sharma: I’m stepping down, homies

We know what you’re thinking — his departure had something to do with this mess. Well, you’d be wrong; apparently, his departure’s been planned for months. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Aug 2011 11:22

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Biz: S&P facing Justice Department scrutiny over mortgage securities ratings

  • what The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether S&P kept the credit ratings on certain bonds backed by mortgage debt higher in an effort to protect the company’s business concerns.
  • why See: The financial crisis, which happened in part due to toxic mortgage securities that had inflated credit ratings. S&P’s ratings played a huge role in this whole mess, BTW. source
  • » And in case you were wondering: This investigation began before S&P lowered the U.S. credit rating, though there’s a good chance it will now be informed by it. Anyway, if you don’t understand the credit ratings issue, here’s a good way to put it: Companies pay the agencies for high ratings.  Kinda like if Warner Bros. paid Roger Ebert to recommend the latest Harry Potter movie. Now imagine if Ebert recommended “Birdemic” based on his financial interests. This would be extremely unethical behavior for journalists. But did S&P do something like that?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Aug 2011 14:10

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Biz, World: French credit weaknesses pushing markets down worldwide

  • The cost of insuring France’s debt rose to a record high today. And unlike the United States, France can’t just increase their money supply to pay its creditors. Partly as a result, it’s the most indebted of all European AAA-rated countries. It’s having a ripple effect that’s driving markets down worldwide. While S&P and the two other major ratings firms say they have no plans to downgrade France’s credit rating, it’s evident that investors are not as confident in the country’s financial situation. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

08 Aug 2011 14:31

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U.S.: President Obama tries to reassure after credit rating downgrade

  • No matter what the agencies say, we will always be a AAA country.
  • President Barack Obama • Talking about the S&P’s downgrade of the United States in a speech today. He explained that they didn’t downgrade us because they didn’t believe that we would default on our debt, but because our politics get too much in the way — and because the threat of default was used as a bargaining chip. He also talked about our real challenge — long term deficit reduction. He stuck to his guns on policies like tax  cuts for the wealthy, and also said that we need to keep unemployment benefits around to keep our recovery going. However, just from this speech it’s clear that it isn’t going to be easy. It’s evident that despite the fact that Obama has good intentions, the politics simply aren’t going to change overnight. Obama also honored the troops that died in the helicopter crash over the weekend, which was well-deserved and moving. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Aug 2011 12:49

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Politics: 2012 candidates’ takes on the S&P credit rating downgrade

  • Mitt romney “Standard & Poor’s rating downgrade is a deeply troubling indicator of our country’s decline under President Obama. His failed policies have led to high unemployment, skyrocketing deficits, and now, the unprece­dented loss of our nation’s prized AAA credit rating. Today, President Obama promised that ‘things will get better.’ But it has become increasingly clear that the only way things will get better is with new leadership in the White House.”
  • Jon Huntsman “Out-of-control spending and a lack of leadership in Washington have resulted in President Obama presiding over the first downgrade of the United States credit rating in our history. For far too long we have let reckless government spending go unchecked and the cancerous debt afflicting our nation has spread. We need new leadership in Washington committed to fiscal responsibility, a balanced budget, and job-friendly policies to get America working again.”
  • Michele Bachmann “This President has destroyed the credit rating of the United States through his failed economic policies and his inability to control government spending by raising the debt ceiling. … President Obama is destroying the foundations of the U.S. economy one beam at a time. I call on the President to seek the immediate resignation of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and to submit a plan with a list of cuts to balance the budget this year, turn our economy around and put Americans back to work.” source
  • » One note on the Bachmann one: You’ll note that if you read the full document, it specifically blames Republican policies — largely their unwillingness to raise revenue by raising taxes — for the downgrade. Yes, there is too much debt. Yes, it needs to be dealt with. But if the GOP can’t give an inch on taxes, then these words don’t hold water.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Jun 2011 16:38

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Biz, World: Standard and Poor’s downgrades Greece’s credit rating again

  • Greece’s S&P credit rating now world’s lowest: Standard and Poor’s, the international credit rating agency, has slashed Greece’s rating by three levels, from B down to CCC — their lowest rated nation. They also warned that a potential debt restructuring would likely be viewed as a default, which would cause them to cut Greece further down to SD (selective default) for their credit rating, and D for the nation’s debt instruments. So, on top of this bad news, it seems almost assured to get worse before it gets any better. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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