standard and poors

The major headlines in the stock market today (Tuesday) include Moody's warning it might lower America's AAA rating, the trade deficit and a financial shakeup:

• U.S. Credit Rating at Risk- In a statement released Monday, ratings agency Moody's said the United States is in danger of losing its AAA credit rating if Congress cannot come up with a solid plan to lower the debt-to-GDP ratio. "If those negotiations lead to specific policies that produce a stabilization and then downward trend in the ratio of federal debt to GDP over the medium term, the rating will likely be affirmed and the outlook returned to stable," Moody's said in an e-mailed statement. "If those negotiations fail to produce such policies, however, Moody's would expect to lower the rating, probably to Aa1."
  
  Currently Moody's rates the U.S. AAA credit rating with a negative outlook. Standard & Poor's last year downgraded the U.S. to AA+ which is the equivalent to Moody's Aa1. Both agencies cite the political bickering in Congress and inability to deal with fiscal situations as the main reasons for the downgrades. S&P has mentioned that those risks could lead to another downgrade. When President Obama updated his federal budget in August the debt-to-GDP ratio was projected to be 75% by 2022, currently it is just over 1.04%. If lawmakers decide to go off the fiscal cliff as a debt reduction measure Moody's said it will maintain its current rating and negative outlook and then wait to see results of the fiscal cliff before deciding to return to a stable outlook.