S&P Introduces "Ridiculous" rating

Just when you thought it was safe to back into the water: S&P was fully aware of the
undeserved CDO ratings.

In one email message, an S&P analyst called a mortgage or structured finance deal "ridiculous" and wrote "we should not be rating it."

In another email, an S&P manager said ratings agencies were helping to create an "even bigger monster -- the CDO (collateralized debt obligation) market. Let's hope we are all wealthy and retired by the time this house of card falters."

I don't know what S&Ps penalty should be, but it should be large.

As an aside: PR departments throughout the US know that if you have to drop a bomb, do it for the Saturday papers, which has the least readership in the news cycle. If all goes well, somebody else's bomb drops for the Sunday papers, so that everyone forgets your bad news.