Free Republic

Right on the heels of seeing a downgrade of the creditworthiness of the United States itself, Moody’s has downgraded ten small to medium banks across the country, citing “financial strain” and “strains that could erode their profitability.” Six more banks are under review, and another eleven have been shifted from “stable” to negative. If you still have all your money in the banking system, you’re quickly running out of time to change strategies and preserve some of your wealth. Which banks got downgraded? The ten banks which were downgraded are: Commerce Bancshares BOK Financial Corporation M&T Bank Corporation Old National...

We’ve seen Target take a huge stock dive with about $14 billion in market cap lost as of Tuesday, since the middle of May. We reported how they faced two downgrades — from JP Morgan and KeyBanc — and had been on the worst losing streak that they’ve had in 23 years. JP Morgan cited as the basis for their downgrade “too many concerns rising.” That’s a massive change in such a short period. Now, Elon Musk and Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary are warning about what might be the next shoe to drop for the company under siege.O’Leary, on “Jesse...

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday announced it was ending its declaration of COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern, more than three years after it was first declared. “For more than a year, the pandemic has been on a downward trend, with population immunity increasing from vaccination and infection, mortality decreasing and the pressure on health systems easing. This trend has allowed most countries to return to life as we knew it before COVID-19,” WHO DIrector-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a press briefing Friday.

Alaska’s credit rating was downgraded by Moody’s Investors Services, in the midst of its multi-billion-dollar deficit. Moody’s dropped the Last Frontier’s general obligation rating from Aa1 to Aa2. The outlook remains negative, according to the bond credit rating business. This marks the 49th State’s third credit decline from leading global credit rating agencies, that includes downgrades by Standard and Poor’s Rating Services and Fitch Ratings. ... In addition, Moody’s downgraded Alaska’s lease-appropriation bonds to Aa3 from Aa2, along with its moral obligation bonds to A1 from Aa3. These two bonds are consistently ranked one to two grades lower than the...

Moody's Investors Service downgraded Pennsylvania's general obligation debt to Aa2 from Aa1 on Monday, citing concerns about the state's growing unfunded pension liabilities and a slow economic recovery. The cut comes just before a scheduled July 24 sale of $363.6 million in general obligation refunding bonds, which Moody's rated Aa2 on Monday. Related bonds were also downgraded a notch, Moody's said. The actions affected about $13 billion of Pennsylvania's GO, appropriation-backed and GO-related debt.

A major potential negative catalyst for financials globally is rapidly approaching as 114 banks are on review-for-downgrade by Moody's across 16 countries. Why do we care so much about ratings given their historical credibility?...In Europe, the fun heats up in the next few weeks as first Italian banks (4/16), then Spanish banks (4/23) and then Austrian (4/30) face from 1 to 4 notch downgrades and the potential to lose their short-term (funding-/CP-related) Prime-1 top rating, implicitly raising funding costs (and liquidity concerns) even further.

Moody's Just Made 16 More Huge Downgrades In Spain Simone Foxman Oct. 19, 2011, 4:51 PM Moody's Investors Service downgraded nine Spanish regions, two Basque provinces, and five government-related entities, a day after it downgraded Spanish sovereign debt. That included demoting one region — Castilla-La Mancha — by five notches, from A3 to Ba2. It also remains on downgrade review. This newest report confirms that the gravity of the debt crisis is deepening in Spain, one of the countries most vulnerable to banking contagion. Here's the full release from Moody's. --- Madrid, October 19, 2011 -- Moody's Investors Service has...

LOS ANGELES – Earth can breathe a sigh of relief. NASA on Wednesday downgraded the odds of an 885-foot asteroid striking the planet in 2036. Scientists initially believed there was a 1-in-45,000 chance that Apophis could hit the planet on April 13, 2036. But the threat was lowered to a 1-in-250,000 chance after researchers recalculated the asteroid's path. "It wasn't anything to worry about before. Now it's even less so," said Steve Chesley, an astronomer with the Near Earth Object Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

MOUNT MERAPI (AFP) - Indonesia has downgraded its top alert on Mount Merapi volcano as scientists said they no longer believe an eruption is imminent. Merapi -- whose name means "Mountain of Fire" -- was put on red alert on May 13 and its activity has fluctuated since then. It has declined substantially since Friday when part of a lava dome forming at its peak collapsed. "The activity status of Merapi is downgraded from 'beware' to 'standby' as of June 13, 2006, at 11:00 am," said Yousana Siagian, head of the vulcanology office in West Java's Bandung, in a statement....

A New York-based ratings service has downgraded $46 million in San Diego's general obligation bonds and $250 million in debt, a decision that may lead to higher borrowing costs for the financially challenged municipality. The notice, issued after an extensive review by Fitch Ratings analyst Amy Doppelt in San Francisco, downgraded the city's general obligation bonds to "A" grade from "AA." The lease-backed debt of $250 million was dropped from "A-" to "AA-", a company spokesman said. In issuing the opinion, used by world credit markets to evaluate investment prospects for clients, Fitch cited "continued delays in the release of...