The Sarcasm Report v.85

Fitch downgrades Egypt outlook to negative

CAIRO (AP) -- Fitch Rating on Friday revised down its outlook for Egypt, dropping it to "negative" as mass protests in the country turned violent, engulfing the capital and other cities in a serious challenge to President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule.

You've really got to hand it to the analysts over at Fitch for spotting the tanks in the rear view mirror. This will no doubt help all the investors who don't have access to global news but yet still somehow have access to Fitch.

This isn't the first time Fitch has helped investors though.

September 15, 2008
Best, Fitch downgrade AIG ratings

Fitch "believes that AIG is likely to pursue other steps to raise cash and capital and that the company may pursue the sale of various operating units." It adds in its statement, however, that "these measures will take time to develop and thus while they are likely to provide AIG with long-term benefits, they are unlikely to provide benefits in the short-term. Notwithstanding Fitch believes the accommodations being provided by AIG's insurance regulators has eased the potential liquidity strain being experienced at the holding company level."

Unfortunately, Fitch did not factor Fitch into its analysis.

AIG

AIG suffered from a liquidity crisis when its credit ratings were downgraded below "AA" levels in September 2008.

There's just no way Fitch could have anticipated what Fitch did.