In Europe today, the focus has shifted from Spain to Italy, in the ongoing EU debt crisis. Moody's credit rating agency has downgraded Italian debt to just two levels above junk status.
The credit rating agency Moody's slashed the ratings of 15 of the world's biggest financial institutions, including Citigroup and Bank of America here in the U.S. and Barclays and Credit Suisse in Europe.
After U.S. markets closed yesterday, the rating agency Moody's delivered more bad news — this time to 15 of the world's largest banks, including the biggest American banks. The fine print of the downgrade hints at more bank bailouts down the road.
Global markets are down about a percent this morning after the rating agency Moody's downgraded the credit ratings of 15 of the largest banks in the world. Among them, European institutions — but also big American banks like JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America.
The ratings agency Moody's could lower credit ratings on the bonds of several U.S. banks this month. The downgrades could send ripples, but not shock waves, throughout the economy.
Six years ago, Ford lost billions when SUV sales stalled. It borrowed billions, and put up factories and its famous trademark as collateral. After a major restructuring, the automaker has earned an investment-grade rating from Moody's.
Europe and the U.S. are both exploring new options for judging the value of debt after increasing threats of downgrade from agencies like S&P and Moody's.
The big credit ratings agencies — S&P, Moody's — faced enormous criticism in the United States for their role in the housing crisis. In Europe, many countries now say those same firms are feeding the debt crisis. So European regulators are pushing back.
