And now the country has absorbed another huge blow another downgrade of its bond ratings. Both Moody s and Standard amp

We might also be looking at a potential ratings downgrade for US government debt implying the prospect of even higher interest rates.

And now the country has absorbed another huge blow another downgrade of its bond ratings. Both Moody s and Standard Poor s now rate Japanese bonds at only their fourth highest level.

A very likely downgrade of these insurers credit ratings will force banks and financial institutions that hold these risky assets to write them down, adding another 150 billion to the financial system s mounting losses.

While the S P downgrade was unexpected, it was not exactly shocking.

And yet sovereign ratings matter tremendously.

Other emerging markets also look fragile and at risk of an eventual downgrade.

That is evident from their credit ratings.

Trump's favorability ratings have turned 180 degrees.

Ratings that pretend to take into account systemic risk might prove as dangerous as ratings that ignore such risk.

Poor s has put the already low A rating under review for a possible downgrade.

Standard Poor s has put the already low A rating under review for a possible downgrade.

Ireland has been assigned a negative outlook and could soon suffer a downgrade as well.

Ratings agencies had incentives to give good ratings to the high risk securities produced by the investment banks that were paying them.

First, governments debt soared and their credit ratings plummeted.

Oil prices are soaring, as are Putin s approval ratings.

Even if ratings were no longer required or encouraged by law, however, demand for ratings and the need to improve their reliability would remain.

His ratings have dipped below 50 for the first time.

Poll after poll puts his approval ratings at more than 70 .

But to make ratings work, the raters need to be rated.

The ECB and creditor banks can live for two or three weeks with a temporary downgrade of Greece s debt.

The credit ratings agencies have been held accountable in two private suits.

The approval ratings for Russia s president and prime minister are heading south.

Bond rating agencies have issued misleading ratings on companies in questionable health.

In principle, credit ratings are based on statistical models of past defaults in practice, however, with few national defaults having actually occurred, sovereign ratings are often a subjective affair.

Rumors have swirled about a possible downgrade of France s sovereign debt, accompanied by speculation about the consequences for French banks.

And their presidents, despite their undeniable competence, are watching their approval ratings plummet.

Since his victory in 2004, Yushchenko s popularity ratings have plummeted to around 8 .

For many investors, credit ratings dictate where and how much they can invest.

So ill, in fact, that Standard Poor s recently cut its sovereign credit rating the country s second downgrade in less than two years.

US citizens register high approval ratings in Canada and Mexico 90 and 70 , respectively.

And, with approval ratings in the single digits, there s nowhere to go but up.

Yet he clearly failed to comprehend that this was not just about approval ratings.

Fitch Ratings has cut the Greek rating to BBB , the third lowest investment grade.

It s natural that the state of global markets will have some kind of ripple effect, says Greg Kabance, managing director for Latin American structured finance at Fitch Ratings, the international credit ratings agency.

We can also add to these financial risks the massive problems of bond insurers that guaranteed many of the risky securitization products such as CDOs. A very likely downgrade of these insurers credit ratings will force banks and financial institutions that hold these risky assets to write them down, adding another 150 billion to the financial system s mounting losses.

Indeed, the entire financial sector was rife with agency problems and externalities. Ratings agencies had incentives to give good ratings to the high risk securities produced by the investment banks that were paying them.

And, whereas the Basel standards continue to refer extensively to credit ratings as the basis for assessing the creditworthiness of borrowers, the Dodd Frank Act in the US moves away from reliance on ratings.

All ratings of financial products raise the same incentive problems and could benefit from reform.

Finally, the investors who bought MBS s and CDO s were greedy and believed the misleading ratings.

Regulators, meanwhile, are now starting to require banks to develop their own internal ratings processes.

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As private rating agencies live on the fees they collect from rated companies, they cannot easily downgrade important clients or the assets they sell.

It took us 50 years to reach annual savings ratings of almost 10 percent. 50 years.