http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghFp1aTjAlo
http://solutions.standardandpoors.com/SP/editorial/Feature.do?pagename=TreasuryMarketWatch&pc=JAN&auth=085150196224055233187040139188220016243096142070&tracking=JAN&docId=1385878
Excerpt:
| Treasury Market Watch |
Friday August 14, 1998 (09:01 am EST)
Bonds Near Unchanged in Morning Trade
NEW YORK, Aug. 14 (Standard & Poor's) - Treasuries have opened near unchanged levels as traders eye today's overseas events, and some economic reports. Markets in Asia soared today after the Hong Kong government bought financial assets in an attempt to offset the impact from hedge fund short selling. Hong Kong's Financial Secretary Donald Tsang said that Hong Kong would continue to go long in Hong Kong financial assets, from time to time, until people stop betting against its currency. Equity markets rose broadly in Asia on the news which helped lift the Japanese yen. However, the Nikkei 225 was the notable exception, finishing the day lower. In economic news, July PPI rose 0.2%, while the core ncreased 0.1%, about in line with market expectations. Standard & Poor's MMS International says that besides some pockets of larger than expected price gains, the underlying trend in wholesale prices remains benign, and added that the report will largerly be ignored. Also due for release today is July industrial production which will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET. In spite of another nasty day for the Emerging Markets and some weakness in domestic stocks, Treasuries slid about 1/2 point on Thursday. Dollar-yen weakness, spurred by jitters over Bank of Japan intervention, kept an offer in the market. Supply pressures also weighed a bit, as the Treasury completed the final leg of the August refunding. Technicals suggest scope for the cash bond to trim some of the losses today. But we doubt players will want to get too long ahead of the weekend in light of the exceptional volatility in overseas markets and with the threat of yen intervention still lurking in the shadows. Once again, stocks and forex will continue to set the tone for bonds. And these markets in turn will be sharply attuned to overseas developments. The crisis in Russia continues to deepen, with sovereign ratings downgrades by both S&P and Moody's and a call from George Soros for a ruble devaluation.
http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/ffdconf/
Excerpt:
Left
http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/janak/050517
Excerpt:
Cynthia A. Janak
If your stocks are not doing well, blame Soros and Moody's Investors Service
With the sleep still in the corner of my eyes, my first cup of tea steaming before me and, heaven forbid anyone tries to talk to me because I am not fully awake yet, my computer is on and I am trying to comprehend the business news. I am not a pretty picture in the morning. I am but one of thousands of people who have this routine.
Every day the investors in the United States watch the ticker. I know because I am one of those people. The business news is just as important, if not more so, as the regular news. We are the people who invest in the companies to make our economy grow. At least, that is what I thought for a long time. This has changed recently, as recently as today.
Now I am miffed and I am going to tell you why I am miffed. On the way to researching other things, I came upon a document. Essentially, it is a rather non-descript type of financial document. The type of document that, if you were an insomniac, would put you to sleep. Well, nosey me had to take a look.
The title of the document was the
"International Conference of Financing for Development."
Sounds exciting, not. I was curious, though, because I want to make good financial investments that will further secure my retirement and provide a dividend income in the process. This is what an educated investor does. Investment companies spend a fortune on having their brokers read all this exciting stuff all day. That is why they get the big bucks.
I clicked and the document opened and behold, to my amazement, this document is not about the financial prospectus for the United States. It is about a conference that was held in 2002 in Mexico. The participants of this conference were from various countries and businesses around the world. This conference is important to the people who invest in the United States because in the upper left hand corner is the symbol of the United Nations.
This document was the schedule for a round table discussion about global trade and financial development.
Before I go too much further I want to tell you who some of the participants were in this round table discussion.
Institutional Stakeholder Participants
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
World Bank
United Nations Conference of Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
United Nations
World Trade Organization (WTO)
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
Financial Stability Forum (FSF)
Common Fund for Commodities
Business Sector Participants — (United States participants)
Samuels Associates
Moody's Investors Service
Soros Fund Management
Violy, Byorum & Partners Holdings
Potomac Associates
Securities Industries Association (SIA)
Standard and Poor's
Spring Investment Corporation
Financial Services Volunteer Corps (FSVC)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moody's
Excerpt:Criticism
Similarly, large companies such as AIG, Lehman Brothers had AAA and AA rating until they went bankrupt in 2009.[8]
Moody's has been accused of "blackmail". In one example the German insurer Hannover Re was offered a "free rating" by Moody's. The insurer refused. Moody's continued with the "free ratings", but over time lowered its rating of the company. Still refusing Moody's services, Moody's lowered Hannover's debt to junk, and the company in a few hours lost $175 million in market value.[9]
"As the housing market collapsed in late 2007, Moody's Investors Service, whose investment ratings were widely trusted, responded by purging analysts and executives who warned of trouble and promoting those who helped Wall Street plunge the country into its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. A McClatchy investigation has found that Moody's punished executives who questioned why the company was risking its reputation by putting its profits ahead of providing trustworthy ratings for investment offerings."[10]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moody's
Excerpt:Criticism
See also: Credit rating agency#Criticism
Credit rating agencies such as Moody's have been subject to criticism in the wake of large losses in the asset-backed security collateralized debt obligation (ABS CDO) market that occurred despite being assigned top ratings by the credit rating agencies. For instance, losses on $340.7 million worth of ABS collateralized debt obligations (CDO) issued by Credit Suisse Group added up to about $125 million, despite being rated AAA by Moody's.[7]Similarly, large companies such as AIG, Lehman Brothers had AAA and AA rating until they went bankrupt in 2009.[8]
[edit] Power and influence
 | The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (August 2011) |
Moody's has been accused of "blackmail". In one example the German insurer Hannover Re was offered a "free rating" by Moody's. The insurer refused. Moody's continued with the "free ratings", but over time lowered its rating of the company. Still refusing Moody's services, Moody's lowered Hannover's debt to junk, and the company in a few hours lost $175 million in market value.[9]
"As the housing market collapsed in late 2007, Moody's Investors Service, whose investment ratings were widely trusted, responded by purging analysts and executives who warned of trouble and promoting those who helped Wall Street plunge the country into its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. A McClatchy investigation has found that Moody's punished executives who questioned why the company was risking its reputation by putting its profits ahead of providing trustworthy ratings for investment offerings."[10]
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