[lbo-talk] S&P is rating subprime mortgages as AAA again -- higher than Treasuries

[SA]

S&P is rating subprime mortgages as AAA again, report Zeke Faux and Jody 
Shenn: "Standard & Poor’s is giving a higher rating to securities backed 
by subprime home loans, the same type of investments that led to the 
worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, than it assigns the 
U.S. government. S&P is poised to provide AAA grades to 59 percent of 
Springleaf Mortgage Loan Trust 2011-1, a set of bonds tied to $497 
million lent to homeowners with below-average credit scores and almost 
no equity in their properties. New York-based S&P stripped the U.S. of 
its top rank on Aug. 5, saying Washington politics were making the 
country less creditworthy...S&P has awarded AAAs to more than $36 
billion of securities in the U.S. this year that were created by bankers 
who continue to gather thousands of loans, bundle them into bonds of 
varying risk and pay ratings firms a fee to assign credit rankings."