debt rating

Many believed it was just a matter of time before Europe's sovereign debt woes spread beyond Greece. Portugal, along with Spain, Ireland and to a lesser extent Italy, is one of the more financially troubled countries of the eurozone.

Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's says it may downgrade Japan's current AA sovereign debt to AA-. S&P has officially changed its outlook on Japan's debt from stable to negative. Is Japan the canary in the credit coal mine for the U.S. and U.K.?

In the latest sign that the global recession has Ireland's "Celtic Tiger" in its cross hairs, credit rating firm Moody's Investors Service stripped the country's debt of its coveted highest rating today and said another downgrade could be coming. The cause? According to Moody's, Ireland's costly...

Between the Treasury Department's plan to rid banks of toxic assets and a big month-over-month surge in exisitng-home sales in February, investors clearly found much to celebrate in today's news. And their revelry sent stocks through the roof: The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 497 points, or...