I have spoken many times about the credit rating agencies. Their model is broken.
- Pennsylvania Railroad went into receivership in 1970 – rated triple A.
- Venezuela defaulted in 1982 – rated triple A.
Over the past several years lots of structured products were rated triple A only to go to triple C in the blink of an eye.
Rating agencies are paid by the issuer. Why would a buyer of securities rely on a rating provided by the seller.
Companies rate shop. They visit all the rating agencies and give the business to the agency which accords them the highest rating.
Mary Schapiro, the incoming Chair of the SEC, testified earlier this month, “until we deal with the compensation model, we’re not going to deal with a conflict of interest and people are not going to have confidence that the ratings are worth relying on, worth the paper they are printed on”.
In my opinion, rating agencies are dangerous because they provide investors with a false sense of security.
2 comments:
Who to believe?
In early October Buffett put $3 Billion into GE. The whole "it is a good company" speech... one analyst wrote "Like the Goldman Sachs deal, both sides will benefit, said Morningstar analyst Justin Fuller. “I think they’re kind of a win-win situation,” Fuller said. “I think in a lot of ways, Goldman and certainly GE, they’re, in effect, buying Buffett’s backing.”
You think GE would have kept their rating if Buffett hadn't put $3 B in?
Ratings should be about fundamentals and should account for 'events' outside the norm.
God point - Buffet is a rating agency that you can follow!
Post a Comment