S&P lowers more ratings August 8, 2011 A SWATHE of US institutions were stripped of their gold-plated credit ratings by Standard & Poor’s as the fall-out from the downgrade of the US rating agency continued yesterday. As Moody’s weighed its decision to hold the US at AAA, S&P cut the two giant US mortgage agencies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to AA+ [...]
S&P downgrades raft of US finance bodies August 8, 2011 Standard & Poor’s has made further rating cuts to the US’s biggest financial institutions following its historic downgrade of the US last Friday. Standard & Poor’s has downgraded both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the two US government-backed mortgage agencies, to bring them in line with the sovereign rating. The agency had put the two [...]
AIG sues BofA for $10bn over “massive fraud” August 8, 2011 The insurer American International Group Inc is suing Bank of America Corp to recover more than $10bn (£6.1bn) of losses from a “massive fraud” on mortgage debt, deepening the morass of litigation faced by the largest US bank. AIG, still largely owned by taxpayers after $182.3bn of government bailouts, is the latest of a growing [...]
S&P eyes new downgrade as US fights back August 7, 2011 US MORTGAGE agencies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are likely to have their credit ratings cut by Standard & Poor’s today after its downgrade of the US sovereign debt rating last week. S&P is likely to lower the two government-backed housing agencies to AA+ from triple A due to their dependence on the US government [...]
Credit rating agencies caught in political web August 7, 2011 NEXT Tuesday marks the three-year anniversary of Moody’s downgrading nearly 700 mortgage-backed bonds. As the subprime crisis ploughed on, the move followed thousands of other screeching U-turns on mortgage-backed assets by the three main credit rating agencies – S&P, Fitch and Moody’s. The trio’s cash cow had come back to bite, with a wave of [...]
Farewell to risk-free rates as delays hit US credibility August 1, 2011 WHETHER or not the deal being worked on intensively in Washington over the past few hours avoids a US downgrade, there is one matter on which all observers agree: the whole debt wrangling saga has dealt a lasting blow to America’s financial credibility. Credit ratings agencies might yet be persuaded to hold off on a [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 28, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES BHP BILLITON DIGS IN AGAINST STRIKING MINERS BHP Billiton has declared force majeure on exports from the world’s biggest copper mine, as a mineworkers’ strike entered its eighth day. The strike at BHP’s Escondida mine in Chile, which supplied 7 per cent of the world’s copper last year, comes in a month of [...]
House prices down on a year earlier after sharpest drop for 20 months July 28, 2011 HOUSE prices have dropped at their sharpest rate since October 2009, the Land Registry announced yesterday. Compared to a year earlier, June’s prices were down 2.5 per cent, it said. However, house prices across England and Wales were flat month-on-month in June. There is some disparity across the regions, the Land Registry said, with Wales [...]
Taking a gamble on your child’s character July 27, 2011 FOR those looking to save for their children, the slow drip-feed of information on the new Junior Isa (Jisa) has been frustrating. With yesterday’s update, we are a step closer to getting the final details – although questions remain, particularly in how child trust funds (CTF) will fit in with the new regime. But one [...]
Banks report small appetite for borrowing July 25, 2011 LENDING to companies, consumers and house-buyers remained muted in June despite a pick-up in the number of mortgage approvals, the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) announced yesterday. Net unsecured lending to consumers continued its steady decline, down by £100m in the month – matching the six month average and the fall recorded in May. Lending to [...]