It's a bond rating or classification, brought to you lovingly by the caring people at Moody's, Standard and Poor's, and Fitch's. The best rating is AAA, and ratings descend from there. Below a B rating, bonds are called "non investment grade" or junk, and carry high yields for those with a taste for spicy meatballs.
Related or Semi-related Video
Finance: What is the Credit Rating Agenc...4 Views
Finance allah shmoop what is the credit rating agency reform
act of two thousand six otherwise known as crack are
out out something like that All right yeah that's How
the real pros said anyway this act was meant to
improve the quality of company credit ratings like a blindfold
and dartboard should not be involved in making up are
you know coming up with corporate credit ratings Well the
law was ironically enacted in the hope that we would
avoid nightmares like the subprime mortgage crisis that almost brought
down the finances of while the entire country in world
And yes it worked in the same way that a
scale works in an embarrassing episode of the biggest loser
The idea was that the big three agencies moody's s
and p and fitch were colluding with each other and
raiding every security as a okay sort of the same
way wall street cell site analysts were leaned upon in
the nineties by bankers who paid them to rate every
company of strong by so that the companies would favor
the investment banks when doing lucrative secondary offerings and other
personal wealth management services for the founders and senior executives
Newly ridge from you know aipo booty The big three
then produced a product that wasn't reflective of the real
risks inherent in the marketplace Basically they had been labeling
pink slime and hot dog meat as great a sirloin
Yeah well the act made it much easier for smaller
firms to compete for business by doing high quality research
and not being afraid to give bad ratings tow bad
money butchers will The credit rating agency reform act of
o sixth gives both businesses and the government the tools
they need to fight off the shady hucksters of the
world And make sure the pink slime never you know 00:01:55.443 --> [endTime] such a cz your plate financially
Up Next
What are credit ratings and how are they interpreted? Credit ratings describe a borrower’s likelihood to pay back their debts; it’s a look at h...
What are bond ratings and what do they mean? Bond ratings are just credit ratings used on bonds. Just like a credit rating, they give the investor...
What are high yield/junk bonds? Junk bonds are called junk for a reason. They are really risky, but because of this risk, they can pay very well. T...
What are government bonds? Uncle Sam needs dough. He sells bonds in the form of T-Bills, T-Notes, Treasury paper of all flavors. His credo? The cre...