Rating agency S and P puts 15 European countries on credit watch

Rating agency Standard and Poor has put 15 Euro zone countries on review for a possible downgrade of their credit ratings. Even Germany and France could lose their triple A ratings. The move sent Asian stocks into a decline. See this article.

The agency said that there was the risk of a deepening crisis in the region. The agency also cited disagreements among officials and policy makers about how to solve the crisis increases the risks.

Four months earlier S and P cut the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA+ because of the failure of political discussions on how to tackle the U.S. deficit. Some analysts and bondholders were irritated at the timing of the S and P announcement as European Union leaders have a meeting in Brussels Dec 8th and 9th to deal with the crisis. For much more see this Bloomberg article.