Euro hammered and stocks hit by S&P eurozone downgrades talk

About time they came out and made it official. They've been threatening to do it for long enough.

I reckon Murdo McSponge is a nom de plume. Come on, Alex, we know who you are!

Strange that the Rumours ? on Bloomberg, were surprisingly detailed and well ahead of any official downgrading announcement. Somewhere this unofficial data was supplied to Bloomberg, enabling some sections of the US market to fall significantly, followed of course and tracked by The UK.

It is not as if other US Ratings Agencies had not already pronounced on the European Downgrade situation. Suggesting it was more of a planned orchestrated leak, for Financial gain. My views only.

I agree with Mikeran......these are the rating agencies that AAA rated the dodgy debts that brought us to the mess we're in and now they are messing with the ratings of countries knowing what the "news" will do to the markets and cashing in on it...............and who will stop it? those with gravey on their fingers? I doubt it!

Just my humble opinion of course.......

When will someone do something about the ratings agencies. They downgraded the US from AAA at the time the first signs of their recovery were showing through - with subsequent figures adding to the positive view.

The Europeans are trying hard (albeit slowly) to sort out a very major difficulty - it makes the job so much more difficult when the ratings agencies rumour monger downgrades and even worse carry them out raising borrowing costs and causing more concern throughout the world (self- fulfilling prophecy). Who are these crystal ball merchants to dictate such market turning calls - and what about the timing. Heavy rumour- or leaks on a Friday with announcement after close of business with the US holiday on the following Monday. I hope someone in authority is looking closely at the market/ company positions taken by those connected with the ratings agencies. I am pretty sure they would not be daft enough to make it too obvious but I wouln't mind betting some are taking advantage.

It's about time the ratings agencies were taken down a peg or two themselves. I seem to remember their ratings for many of the fallers of the last debacle were very wide of reality. Perhaps we should all learn to just ignore them

S&P sneeze and the World catches a cold.

Credit rating agencies, get rid of them NOW!

Figures came out after closing?

At 16.30 GMT the French CAC was at 3190.

When the futures market closed at 21.15 GMT it had RISEN to 3201.

As most will recall S&P rated LBHI as strong, albeit with Negative Long term credit watch, up until the collpapse. Wrong on two points, not strong and Long term was very short term.