Standard & Poor's

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  S&P Downgrades French Banks

  By Marlene Y. Satter, AdvisorOne  |  January 24, 2012

  Standard & Poor's downgraded four French banks on Monday, saying that its action came as a result of its downgrade of France itself earlier in the month.

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  S&P Cuts EFSF Rating

  By Marlene Y. Satter, AdvisorOne  |  January 17, 2012

  Standard & Poor's followed up its mass cuts to the credit ratings of eurozone countries on Friday with a cut in the credit rating of the European Financial Stability Facility on Monday. EFSF officials said that nonetheless the facility was well enough funded to cope with the eurozone debt...

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  Triple-A Eurozone Rescue Plan Depends on Germany and Others: S&P

  By Marlene Y. Satter, AdvisorOne  |  January 16, 2012

  After downgrading most of the eurozone on Friday, Standard & Poor's said that the continued triple-A rating for the European Financial Stability Facility, the region's rescue mechanism, depended on more participation from Germany and other nations that retained their top credit rating.

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  Downgrades Hit Europe; PIMCO’s Gross Sees Greek Default

  By Marlene Y. Satter, AdvisorOne  |  January 16, 2012

  Friday the 13th turned out to be very unlucky indeed for the euro zone, as Standard & Poor's downgraded nine countries in the bloc, including triple-A rated France and Austria, and put 14 of the 17 countries on negative outlook.

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  Austria Stable at AAA: Moody's

  By Marlene Y. Satter, AdvisorOne  |  December 23, 2011

  Moody's kept Austria's credit rating stable at AAA on Friday, but warned about the effects of the debt crisis not just on Austria but also on other euro zone countries.

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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.

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  S&P, Fitch Cut Ratings of 17 Banks in U.S., Europe

  By Marlene Y. Satter, AdvisorOne  |  December 16, 2011

  S&P clips 10 in Spain, Fitch hits BofA and Goldman.

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  Investing in 'The Lucky Country' via ETFs

  By Vaughan Scully, Standard & Poor's  |  December 11, 2011

  Unlike Europe (and the U.S.), the Australian government has very low overall debt levels and projects a budget surplus in 2012.

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  S&P Warns on Possible Downgrade of EU, Banks

  By Marlene Y. Satter, AdvisorOne  |  December 8, 2011

  Standard & Poor's, continuing a theme it began earlier this week, said Wednesday that the European Union itself could face the loss of its AAA credit rating, as could large euro zone banks.