NEW YORK (Standard & Poor's) Dec. 19, 2008--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today announced downgrades and outlook changes to the ratings of 12 major U.S. and European financial institutions. We lowered our ratings on 11 institutions by one notch or two notches (see list below). RATINGS LIST Bank New Rating Prior Rating Bank of America N.A. AA-/Negative/A-1+ AA/Watch Neg/A-1+ Barclays Bank PLC AA-/Negative/A-1+ AA/Watch Neg/A-1+ Citibank N.A. New York, NY A+/Stable/A-1 AA/Watch Neg/A-1+ Credit Suisse A+/Stable/A-1 AA-/Watch Neg/A-1+ Deutsche Bank AG A+/Stable/A-1 AA-/Negative/A-1+ Goldman Sachs Group Inc.* A/Negative/A-1 AA-/Negative/A-1+ HSBC Bank PLC AA/Negative/A-1+ AA/Stable/A-1+ JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. AA-/Negative/A-1+ AA/Negative/A-1+ Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A. A/Negative/A-1 AA-/Negative/A-1+ Royal Bank of Scotland PlC (The) A+/Stable/A-1 AA-/Stable/A-1+ UBS AG A+/Stable/A-1 AA-/Watch Neg/A-1+ Wells Fargo Bank N.A. AA+/Negative/A-1+ AAA/Watch Neg/A-1+ http://www2.standardandpoors.com/portal/site/sp/en/us/page.article/2,1,4,0,1204842659798.html
As stock_trad3r would say. It does not matter, already priced in. Plus markets go up in the face of peril 9 out of the last 10 Fridays.