[quote=CA renter]“Standard And Poor’s Gives San Diego County Its Highest Rating
San Diego County has earned the highest possible rating from all three of the top credit agencies—Fitch, Moody’s, and Standard and Poor’s.”
ever consider a “AAA bond rating” is just a variation on a theme of information requested for a mega-super-sized-jumbo STATED INCOME LOAN (application)?
you know like stuff from the news a few years ago, where there was wide spread reports the various mortgage lenders did not verify the borrower’s income!
Déjà vu!!!!! because I seem to recall that all the stated income loans were then packaged in a CDO and like wise given the “HIGHEST RATING” from all three of the top credit agencies (Fitch, Moody’s, and Standard and Poor’s).
so is the news-release in a small “public” community rag, for some kind of loan application propaganda – in other words is it to assure/calm bond investors (i.e. an economic PR job)? perhaps since there was a quoted a political figure in the news article perhaps is it to assure/calm “local” taxpayers/voters (i.e. a political PR job)??
looking ahead, given all the parallels really have to wonder are SD muni-bonds destined to be the subject of the big sort sequel??? anyone else like the award winning writing style in the movie where mortgage bonds were described as dog$hit AND CDOs were likened to dog$hit wrapped in cat$hit
(analysis based on supporting data)
[quote=NPR] After the stock market crash of 1929, the agencies began to also rate bond investments for banks — at the request of the U.S. government. But things began to change in the 1960s and 1970s. Instead of charging investors for their ratings information, the agencies began to charge the bond issuers themselves for the ratings.
“People were quite critical of this and said it could create a conflict of interest,” Partnoy says. “You can imagine what the difference between ratings of restaurants and movies might be if instead of the Michelin Guide or the Zagat guide, if the restaurants or movie companies themselves were paying the raters to be rated, it’s an obvious conflict of interest. And now it’s very commonplace that companies and GOVERNMENTS — anyone who wants to borrow money — THEY ARE THE ONES WHO ARE PAYING FOR THE RATING.”
Don’t be a a useful idiot. If you’re not being paid, you should definitely demand payment from [Strike]the Privatization Movement[/Strike][mismanaged entities like SDCERS and/or all three of the top credit agencies] for your services. They expect to reap great rewards from the work of people like yourself; make sure to get your piece of the pie.
