"Moody's Investors Service(MCO_) and Standard & Poor's manipulated the credit ratings of mortgage-backed securities because of bank industry pressure until they eventually downgraded the structures, prompting the 20008 financial crisis, according to a congressional report issued Thursday.A report by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations says UBS(UBS_), Lehman Brothers Holdings, Citigroup(C_), Bear Stearns, Morgan Stanley(MS_), Goldman Sachs(GS_), JPMorgan Chase(JPM_) and Nomura Holdings all asked the rating agencies to loosen standards, even though S&P and Moody's knew of the risky nature of the bonds.
"Credit rating agencies were paid by the Wall Street firms that sought their ratings and profited from the financial products being rated... the ratings firms were dependent upon those Wall Street firms to bring them business and were vulnerable to threats that the firms would take their business elsewhere if they did not get the ratings they wanted," the report said. "The ratings agencies weakened their standards as each competed to provide the most favorable ratings to win business and market share."

"The report also states that "the most immediate cause of the financial crisis," was the July 2007 downgrade by Moody's and Standard & Poor's of several mortgage-backed securities. At that time, 90 percent of the triple A rated mortgage-backed securities issued in 2006 and 2007 were downgraded to junk status. The downgrade caused pension funds, insurance companies and banks to scramble to sell off the securities, which led to the subprime market collapse, the report states."

***********.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=reg_ar_cvc
Enjoy. Ayn Rand - herself.

yeah, she's a regular Mother Teresa. her views are as extreme and fanatical as those of the "communists" she despises.
Ayn Rand: "so long as the moral cannibalism of the altruistic code permits people to believe that it is virtuous and right to sacrifice some men for the sake of others ..."
she's obviously delusional and is distorting the meaning of altruism. there is absolutely nothing altruistic in the sacrificing of others. altruism is all about voluntary giving and self sacrifice.

Enjoy. Ayn Rand - herself.
эти евреи миру подкунут то Карла Маркса , то Троцкого, то Айн Рэнд

можно рассуждать сколько угодно, и как угодно, но главный вопрос,кто именно будет держателем и распределителем материальных благ при,так сказать, соц-ом обществе - есть краеугольный, и пока неразрешимый вопрос. Даже церковь всё своё существование воюет именно за право быть основным держателем мат-х благ, на том основании, что она знает как надо делить, а люди по своей натуре слабы духом и не знают. При кап. строе выживает сильнейший,как в природе ,эволюционно, довольно жёстко, но ведёт к какому-то развитию. Пока ничего лучшего не придумано. Мне так кажется.

"я забыла написать, что Mortgages Backed Securities всегда считались очень safe ( это вам не SWAPS или еще какие-то complicated investments)"

Lina, the statement above brings up the notion that you don't exactly understand what you are talkig about. It's a complicated financial instrument, so it's not unusual. Just don't alk about it, it wekens your position.
Swaps are not risky. Quiet the opposite, swaps are used to hedge your risky investment. To explain, you use swaps to minimize your risky exposure. You swap fixed for rate. Foreign currency for dollars. Just a way to hedge your risky positions. Please stick to wat you know,

I repeat, I would never comment on something I wasn't familiar with, and there is in fact a lot more uncertainty, volatility and therefore risk involved with SWAPS than with MBS. I should have stated that MBS have always been considered safe and uncomplicated (especially when compared to SWAPS) - plain vanilla , if you will... But I still fail to see how what I said about SWAPS weakens my (and the Federal Government's) position on the fraud perpetrated by major investment banks? However, if you want to get nitpicky about it, you swap fixed for variable, not fixed for rate.

Thank you. We call that variable a "float", or just "rate". My profile is open. Check and you'll see that I know the subject..

You brought this up, I'm not picking on you. Though your desire to liberalize all aspects of the existing system is amusing..

" А какого фера им там делать 70 чсов в неделю? " - работать млин!
Как йоу ниггаз, но только на себя!
Поймите, лучшие мозги государства получая по 5-8 млн. LV в виде только премий должны работать, а не просто водить мышом по экрану.
Не верите - попробуйте торговать на бирже в качестве дей-трейдера, и не прогореть в течении года.