S&P’s downgrade SNAFUThe credibility of ratings agencies, already tarnished by the sub-prime crisis, has taken yet another battering, with S&P downgrading some commercial mortgage bonds to near junk thanks to a new model.
Mortgage bonds
Wall St endgame? S&P drops a $265b bombshell
Just when everyone was wondering if the US Federal Reserve’s 0.50% rate cut would do the trick and start stabilising the crisis-ridden US economy, ratings agency, Standard & Poor’s, delivered a bombshell, writes Glenn Dyer.
Goldman Sachs: The smartest bank in the room
As Merrill Lynch last night announced a write-down of at least US$15 billion (and a quarterly loss of US$9.8 billion), several commentators have looked deeper into the bizarre situation at Goldman Sachs, and their miraculous avoidance of the sub-prime meltdown, writes Adam Schwab.
Merrill Lynch hasn’t seen the last of sub-prime carnage
While the US markets leapt overnight on news that the Fed will once again lower interest rates, the stench from the sub-prime fiasco doesn’t seem to be dissipating, writes Adam Schwab.
Treasurer, be careful what you wish for
There’s an adage about being “careful for what you wish for” that could apply to the increasingly shrill scaremongering coming from our Federal Treasurer, writes Glenn Dyer.
Morning Market Report
The highlights and lowlights of this morning’s sharemarket activity.
