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The Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal and aftermath could mean a drop in Penn State's bond ratings. Moody's Investors Service announced today that it has put Penn State's bond rating on review for a potential downgrade. The review affects the university's Aa1 rating and applies to about $1 billion in debt. According to an announcement from Moody's, the potential change stems from recent events including the Freeh report, the NCAA sanctions and the Big 10 action, along with uncertainty related to other investigations. The review is expected to be finished in 90 days. It will include assessing the affect...

~ EXCERPT ~ By prodding Washington to agree on a debt plan, Standard & Poor’s might achieve just the opposite. Its dour take on Treasuries could inflame the debt-ceiling debate, leaving little energy for a grand budget compromise. And the severe austerity S&P desires would have few takers anyway. Consider the following: 1) Obviously the rating agency hopes its unnerving note will nudge lawmakers into reaching agreement on taxes and expenditures. Inaction until after the 2012 national elections risks an actual downgrade of America’s AAA bond rating. 2) But striking some mega-deal doesn’t have top priority on Capitol Hill. First...

The Democrats and the Left have once again succeeded in their most well worn, time tested and effective tactic: diversion. For the past six days the country has been watching the spectacle of the Republicans and those on the right defending themselves from absurd and trumped up accusations. This strategy has been so successful over the years that the Left and their allies in the media are now so emboldened that they will literally create any accusation out of whole cloth in the assumption that the Republicans in Congress and on the national stage, as they have in the past,...

The ratings agency Fitch just cut Portugal's bond rating to AA- -- a clear sign that the insolvency crisis that began in Greece is far from over. And don't think it's merely a problem for the European Union. In fact, a debt-driven collapse of the dollar may be closer than most Americans realize. Start by looking at the levels of deficits and debt that can trigger problems. The "tipping point" we see in Greece (and the "contagion countries" on the edges of Europe) occurs when debt exceeds 100 percent of the country's GDP. That's the signal that a nation will...

Fitch Ratings downgraded California's general obligation bond rating Thursday due to concerns about the state's economy and ongoing budget problems, likely raising costs for taxpayers and dampening demand for $4 billion in bonds the state intends to sell next week. California's bond rating now ranks lowest among the 50 states, according to Fitch. The announcement came days before State Treasurer Bill Lockyer plans a bond sale starting next Wednesday to replenish the state's Pooled Money Investment Account and enable the state to begin paying out $500 million to projects that desperately need public funding to continue. Lockyer spokesman Tom Dresslar...

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Credit ratings agencies on Monday praised Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's austere budget as a step toward solving California's chronic fiscal problems, but cautioned that much hinges on the veteran showman's ability to sell a $15 billion bond plan to voters. If voters fail to approve that long-term bond, California lawmakers could be thrown back to the political deadlock that Schwarzenegger has vowed to break -- facing either deeper spending cuts that Democrats will not support or tax hikes the Republican governor has rejected, analysts and investors said. "The crunch is on," said John Hallacy, managing...

<p>SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget is perilously linked to a variety of bond issues that could fail at the ballot box and in the Legislature, toppling his financial rescue plan and further damaging the state's battered credit ratings, Wall Street analysts warned Friday.</p>

Moody's has lowered the rating on $21.9 billion of outstanding State of California General Obligation bonds to A2 (with a stable outlook) from A1, and assigns this rating to the state's upcoming $900 million general obligation bond sale. In addition, we have lowered the rating on $5.5 billion in lease revenue bonds from A2 to A3. These rating actions reflect the magnitude of the imbalance between the state's revenues and expenditures, and the expectation the state will not be able to sufficiently address the imbalance in the upcoming fiscal year _ given the inherent obstacles to reaching consensus on solutions...

<p>Sacramento -- Fueled by California's giant cash shortfall, a third major rating agency on Wall Street will lower the state's creditworthiness, State Treasurer Phil Angelides predicted Thursday.</p> <p>Angelides and top officials from Gov. Gray Davis' administration met with two credit agencies in New York Thursday and will meet with a third today to try to convince them that California has a realistic plan to erase its cash gap.</p>