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Tagged: S&P

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December 5, 2011
19:58 • 1 year ago

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

Tags: credit ratings credit ratings downgrade creditwatch negative euro euro debt crisis s&p s&p credit downgrade standard and poor

  • 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.

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November 28, 2011
23:59 • 1 year ago
Tags: aaa credit rating aaa rating budget deficit credit rating deficit fitch fitch credit rating negative outlook s&p standard & poor's united states
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 (via • follow)
September 30, 2011
16:52 • 1 year ago

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

Tags: china economic slowdown economy investors quarterly decline recession s&p stock markets stocks

  • 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

September 12, 2011
14:20 • 1 year ago

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

Tags: company split mcgraw-hill s&p standard and poor standard and poor's textbooks

  • 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

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August 22, 2011
21:49 • 1 year ago
Tags: credit rating Deven Sharma president s&p standard & poor's standard and poor president
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 Follow ShortFormBlog

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

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August 18, 2011
11:35 • 1 year ago

On people who read selectively to support their own views

Tags: sec u.s. justice department S&P Standard and Poor's investigations

logicallypositive said: SEC is using its regulatory powers to bully S&P for making an observation anyone who isn’t blind could see coming from a mile away

» SFB says: Which part of “This investigation began before S&P lowered the U.S. credit rating” did you miss? And also, it’s the U.S. Justice Department investigating this particular aspect; the SEC is handling a different investigation entirely, one that’s ongoing.

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11:22 • 1 year ago

S&P facing Justice Department scrutiny over mortgage securities ratings

Tags: credit rating credit ratings financial crisis financial industry mortgage securities s&p securities standard and poor

  • 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?

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August 16, 2011
09:45 • 1 year ago
Tags: fitch s&p Standard and Poor's standard and poor credit rating AAA Rating aaa credit rating
Fitch isn’t like S&P: Unlike the brouhaha about S&P downgrading the U.S. credit rating, our friends at Fitch aren’t going to rock the boat … well, unless Fitch decides to get in bed with Abercrombie again. Then we’re in trouble.

Fitch isn’t like S&P: Unlike the brouhaha about S&P downgrading the U.S. credit rating, our friends at Fitch aren’t going to rock the boat … well, unless Fitch decides to get in bed with Abercrombie again. Then we’re in trouble.

August 10, 2011
14:10 • 1 year ago

French credit weaknesses pushing markets down worldwide

Tags: dow jones economy france s&p stock market world economy

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

August 9, 2011
10:59 • 1 year ago
Tags: redstate credit rating Standard and Poor's Standard and Poor s&p erick erickson

Not that we find ourselves agreeing with RedState's Erick Erickson very often, but we did find the argument he made here about the credit rating situation to be fairly well-reasoned.

So maybe the White House is right and S&P figured it needed to save face, do the downgrade, and come up with a loosey-goosey reason that both sides could seize on to fight it out while ignoring that S&P just made a major mistake and the country took it on the chin because of that mistake.

Mark this moment as the one where RedState’s editorial philosophy and ShortFormBlog’s collided for one brief moment, creating a supernova of AAA proportions.

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August 8, 2011
14:31 • 1 year ago
Tags: credit rating deficit economy helicopter crash News obama politics president obama s&p S&P downgrades credit rating stock market u.s. credit rating
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 (via • follow)
13:31 • 1 year ago
Tags: Obama stock market s&p U.S. credit rating
Obama is going to give a statement about the downgrade of the U.S. credit rating at 1:30 p.m. You can watch it here.

Obama is going to give a statement about the downgrade of the U.S. credit rating at 1:30 p.m. You can watch it here.

10:29 • 1 year ago
Tags: Fannie Mae Freddie Mac mortgages Standard and Poor's s&p standard and poor downgrade AA+ AA+ credit rating
In case you guys thought the downgrade-a-palooza was over … oh oh oh! You are mistaken, my friends. Fannie, Freddie, your massive sinkholes will feel the pain too, because S&P apparently wants to ensure we heard them the first time.

In case you guys thought the downgrade-a-palooza was over … oh oh oh! You are mistaken, my friends. Fannie, Freddie, your massive sinkholes will feel the pain too, because S&P apparently wants to ensure we heard them the first time.

August 6, 2011
17:09 • 1 year ago
Tags: Debt Downgrade S&P Ratings agencies U.S. Treasury from soupsoup

Just the Facts: S&P's $2 Trillion Mistake

soupsoup:

The U.S. Treasury’s response to the S&P downgrade.

Key line: “In a document provided to Treasury on Friday afternoon, Standard and Poor’s (S&P) presented a judgment about the credit rating of the U.S. that was based on a $2 trillion mistake. After Treasury pointed out this error – a basic math error of significant consequence – S&P still chose to proceed with their flawed judgment by simply changing their principal rationale for their credit rating decision from an economic one to a political one.”

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