STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: NPR's business news starts with S&P saying: Sorry about that.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: The ratings agency Standard and Poor's has made a lot of headlines for downgrading sovereign debt. Markets went into a tailspin last summer when S&P lowered the U.S. credit rating. That decision also prompted fierce criticism of S&P itself. Investors were rattled again when Standard and Poor's sent out an alert yesterday downgrading the debt of France. Turned out to be a false alarm, but it took almost two hours for S&P to clarify that. S&P says it's investigating the mistake, and so, as you might imagine, are the French.
The rating agency Standard and Poor's sent out an alert downgrading France's debt on Thursday. It turned out to be a false alarm, but it took nearly two hours for S&P to clarify that. S&P says it's investigating the mistake.