Moody's

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  Are Central Banks Saving Economy or Destroying It? News Analysis

  By Gil Weinreich, AdvisorOne  |  February 14, 2012

  The question is whether the central banks’ combined $15 trillion bet will restore confidence in time for the economy to grow again, or whether the global economic system collapses, sending waves of pain on a scale greatly exceeding the fallout of the still unrecovered U.S. real estate market.

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  Moody’s Cuts Six Euro Countries

  By Marlene Y. Satter, AdvisorOne  |  February 14, 2012

  Italy was cut from A2 to A3, Spain went from A1 to A3 and Portugal dropped from Ba2 to Ba3. All received negative outlooks. Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia also saw their ratings fall.

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  Top Portfolio Products: ProShares ETF Focuses on Germany; BlackRock Offers New Fund

  By Marlene Y. Satter, AdvisorOne  |  January 27, 2012

  New products over the last week include a new ETF focusing on German debt from ProShares and a reintroduced multi-asset income fund from BlackRock.

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  ProShares Launches ETF Focused on German Debt

  By Marlene Y. Satter, AdvisorOne  |  January 27, 2012

  ProShares announced Thursday the launch of the first U.S.-based ETF focused on sovereign and sub-sovereign debt from Germany, which has the world's third-largest public debt market and is widely recognized for its fiscal strength.

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  Banks Turn Borrowers, Seek Cash from Customers

  By Marlene Y. Satter, AdvisorOne  |  January 10, 2012

  European banks have found a new way to bring in cash. They borrow it–but instead of turning to each other to bring in funds, they are borrowing it from companies that were once happy to deposit their excess cash in exchange for interest.

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  S&P Downgrades Hungary to Junk After It Defies IMF and EU

  By Marlene Y. Satter, AdvisorOne  |  December 22, 2011

  Hungary was downgraded to junk for the second time in a month, this time by S&P, after Moody's took a similar action previously, but markets reacted little to the news.

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  Euro Zone Solution ‘Technically and Politically Beyond Reach’: Fitch

  By Marlene Y. Satter, AdvisorOne  |  December 19, 2011

  Fitch Ratings on Friday advocated deeper involvement by the European Central Bank, something that Germany has been fighting against.

• Moody's Downgrades Belgium

  By Marlene Y. Satter, AdvisorOne  |  December 19, 2011

  Belgium saw its credit rating cut Friday by two notches, as Moody's said that the debt crisis in the euro zone was increasing risk for all countries carrying a heavy public debt burden.

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  EU Watchdog Growls at Ratings Agencies

  By Marlene Y. Satter, AdvisorOne  |  December 7, 2011

  The European Union agency that presides over the ratings actions of the likes of Moody's, Standard & Poor's, and Fitch Ratings has begun an investigation into how they arrive at rankings for sovereign bonds and other debt, and it warns that if wrongdoing is uncovered, the penalties could be severe.

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  MF Global Employees Sue Executives

  By Marlene Y. Satter, AdvisorOne  |  December 6, 2011

  Former and current employees of bankrupt MF Global have brought suit against the executives of the firm, alleging that misrepresentations were made that destroyed company stock values. The employees are seeking class action status.