People walk past the front of the New York Stock Exchange August 5, 2011.STAN HONDA
Eddy Elfenbein at Crossing Wall Street makes a good point on the downgrade by Standard & Poor's: U.S. creditworthiness is rated every minute of the day in the bond market. And what has the bond market been saying recently? Well, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond falling to nine-month lows last week, it seems to be saying that U.S. debt is fine and dandy.
"Any ratings agency can issue a report and say what they want about our debt — that's no big deal," he said. "What is a big deal is that investors around the world are willing to pay absurd amounts to lend to us. Ultimately, that's what a credit rating is all about. If creditors trust us, then our credit standing is high."
David Berman