- 'Mortgage Deal from Hell' Hurts Sound Borrowers: Bove
- Fidelity: 401(k) Balances Little Changed Over 2011
- Are Young American Workers a 'Lost Generation'?
- Greek Political Leaders Agree On Austerity Reforms
- Robo-Deal Is All About Lowering Mortgage Principal
- Fed Fines Banks $766 Million Over Mortgage Practices
- Options Trader Scores Big on Diamond Foods Selloff
- 12 Unique Dating Sites
- Zuckerberg Takes Control, You Get $100
- Warren Buffett: Stocks Will Outperform Gold and Bonds .. and They're Safer 'By Far'
- So Now You Can’t Give Microsoft Away?
- Robo-Deal Is All About Lowering Mortgage Principal
- Groupon Needs More Disclosure: Analyst
- CEO to CEO: Taking a Job at a Startup vs. a Public Company
- Farr: Money, Jobs and Politics — We're Still in a State of Risk
- PepsiCo CEO: We’re Not Splitting the Company
- Can Ford Make a Smooth Transition in Management?
- Steelers' Antonio Brown Spends Super Bowl Week with Twitter Fan Turned BFF
MOST SHARED
- Steelers' Antonio Brown Spends Super Bowl Week with Twitter Fan Turned BFF
- Robo-Deal Is All About Lowering Mortgage Principal
- Fidelity: 401(k) Balances Little Changed Over 2011
- Top Fashion Stocks for 2012
- Options Trader Scores Big on Diamond Foods Selloff
- iPad 3, iTV and iPhone 5 Should Drive Apple to $665: Money Pros
- Chesapeake Spurs Nat Gas Rally
- FBI Investigated Steve Jobs Drug Use
- Can Anybody Be an Entrepreneur?
- 'Mortgage Deal from Hell' Hurts Responsible Borrowers: Bove
MOST POPULAR
HOT ON FACEBOOK
Text Size 
In a hearing today before the House Oversight Committee, the credit rating agencies are being portrayed as profit-hungry institutions that would give any deal their blessing for the right price.
Case in point: this instant message exchange between two unidentified Standard & Poor's officials about a mortgage-backed security deal on 4/5/2007:
Official #1: Btw (by the way) that deal is ridiculous.
Official #2: I know right...model def (definitely) does not capture half the risk.
Official #1: We should not be rating it.
Official #2: We rate every deal. It could be structured by cows and we would rate it.
A former executive of Moody's says conflicts of interest got in the way of rating agencies properly valuing mortgage backed securities.
Former Managing Director Jerome Fons, who worked at Moody's until August of 2007, says Moody's was focused on "maxmizing revenues," leading it to make the firm more "issuer friendly."
- Many have called to abolish the Federal Reserve. But what would happen if it was dissolved for good?
- New options and disclosures on fees should give workers more control over their retirement savings.
- A management shakeup at the automaker should be a lot smoother this time, says Phil LeBeau.
- The U.S. economy cannot have a sustained recovery until our entrepreneurial dynamism returns, says a guest blogger.
- A die-hard Steelers fan spent a week with wide receiver Antonio Brown- and it was all due to tweeting.
- Where are the best city locations for singles to take the online dating plunge? We’ve got the list right here.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
