Today, the finger-pointing in Europe continued as Bank of France Governor Christian Noyer scolded the ratings agencies and complained that it was the U.K. that should lose its AAA credit rating before France. Let us be clear: Christian Noyer is way out of line. First, the French are the premier bashers of the over aggressive role that Moody’s, S&P and Fitch play on the international financial scene. But when the power of the agencies can be used against a foe, then NOYER can point the finger that the BRITS are much weaker than the French and need to be punished. Secondly, NOYER shows how inept he is as a central banker because the finger-pointing does nothing to make the case of why France should not suffer a downgrade.
Posts Tagged ‘Fitch’
Notes From Underground: I will “Badger” Andy Stern on the issue of Undefunded pensions
February 18, 2011No real surprises on the data releases yesterday. The U.S. inflation numbers were much as expected but all the DEBT futures markets rallied as it seems the shorts in the markets are nervous about new uncertainties in the Middle East. One would think that the equities would have been sold and the DOLLAR bought for safe-haven purposes, but this was not to be the case. The DOLLAR safe-haven status is breaking down on a correlative basis, throwing all the “talking heads” into a confused state. As I continually warn the readers of NOTES, markets are dynamic in data usage and always in flux and for those who stay static in thought, I merely offer a shoulder on which to cry. What is bothering the markets?
Notes From Underground: NEWSFLASH-we are downgrading FITCH!
May 30, 2010We couldn’t resist taking this shot at the late-Friday news that Fitch downgraded Spanish debt to AA+ from AAA, which left us dazed and confused. Why did this ratings agency decide to release this on the Memorial Day weekend when the markets were thin and subject to a very volatile reaction? This decision is not of consequence as S&P downgraded Spanish debt in April. Could this ratings release not have waited until Tuesday when the markets were back at full strength and had deeper liquidity? Would Fitch’s reputation have suffered if they had waited another few days to make this inconsequential change?