Cempaka Belanda: Who are the credit ratings agencies?

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

"The Timing of the Great Shift" – Mar 21, 2009 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.
They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."

"Update on Current Events" – Jul 23, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: The Humanization of God, Gaia, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Benevolent Design, Financial Institutes (Recession, System to Change ...), Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Nuclear Power Revealed, Geothermal Power, Hydro Power, Drinking Water from Seawater, No need for Oil as Much, Middle East in Peace, Persia/Iran Uprising, Muhammad, Israel, DNA, Two Dictators to fall soon, Africa, China, (Old) Souls, Species to go, Whales to Humans, Global Unity,..... etc.)

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Who are the credit ratings agencies?

CNN, by Kevin Voigt, April 29, 2010

Investors across the world look to credit ratings agencies to judge where to place their bets in the market.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Greece's debt rating lowered to junk status, Portugal and Spain also drops
Decision by Standard & Poor's sparks an investor sell-off
Critics say the eurozone economies aren't acting fast enough to avert crisis

(CNN) -- The financial world was thrown into a tailspin this weekend as credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's first downgraded Greece's debt rating to junk status, and also lowered the ratings of Portugal and Spain.

Behind the headlines stand the firms that make the calls on the market, which begs a closer look at these powerful players in the global economy.

Who are the credit ratings agencies?

The "big three" are Standard's & Poor's, Moody's Investor Services and Fitch Ratings. All originated in the United States, although Fitch has dual headquarters in New York and London.

What do they do?

They are designed to provide independent analysis of the credit worthiness -- the ability to pay off loans or investments -- of companies, countries and financial products. They rate them on a sliding scale ranging from AAA to D. In the case of government bonds, anything that slips to BB+, as was the case with Greece this week, is considered a "highly speculative" investment: Or "junk bonds" in the parlance of the markets.

Why do they wield such power?

Investors across the world look to credit ratings agencies to judge where to place their bets in the market. For governments, the ratings agencies have a lot of power over the popularity of bonds: cash given to governments like Greece by investors that, over time, will pay a return on the original investment -- unless the government defaults. The downgrade of Greece signaled Standard & Poor's belief that Greece has a higher likelihood to default on investments. It caused investors to lose their appetite to invest in bonds from Greece, which imperils its ability to pay down its deficit -- which now stands 13 percent higher than the total economic output of the country.

What Greece's debt rating downgrade means

The decisions of credit rating agencies also have a ripple effect through the market: In the wake of the Greece downgrade, investors across the globe started rethinking investment in other governments' bonds and began selling off more risky investments.

How are they paid?

Historically, they were created to give investors an unbiased assessment of investments and investors paid for access to the ratings. In the 1970s, however, credit rating agencies started charging the issuers of new investments fees for ratings. In 1975, U.S. legislators -- fearing a proliferation of unscrupulous ratings agencies, designated Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch as the only ratings organizations banks and brokers could use to evaluate the credit worthiness of their products.

What are the complaints against the firms?

Critics complain the agencies have lost their ability to independently judge the risk on certain investments -- especially in light of AAA ratings given to mortgage-backed securities that imploded when defaults on U.S. home loans shot up, triggering the financial crisis. Lawmakers in the United States, the European Union and other countries around the world are now reviewing regulations on the credit ratings agencies. Credit ratings agencies, too, have revamped their procedures and have argued their ratings are merely opinions -- it's up to the markets to decide.

Fact Box

Country ratings: How they stack up Here is a list of the credit worthiness of a sampling of nations as listed by Standard & Poor?s.

AAA : Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, USA
AA+ : Belgium, Hong Kong, New Zealand
AA : Abu Dhabi, Ireland, Japan, Slovenia, Spain
AA- : Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan
A+ : Chile, China, Cyprus, Italy, Slovak Republic
A : Bahrain, Czech Republic, Israel, South Korea, Malta, Oman, Trinidad and Tobago
A- : Aruba, Botswana, Estonia, Malaysia, Poland, Portugal
BBB+: Bahamas, South Africa, Thailand
BBB : Bulgaria, Croatia, Lithuania, Russia, Mexico
BBB- : Brazil, Hungary, Iceland, India, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Peru
BB+ (Junk status) : Considered highest speculative grade by market
BB+ participants : Azerbaijan, Colombia, Egypt, Greece, Panama, Romania