Standard & Poor's | featured news

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's has pushed Egypt's sovereign credit ratings deeper into junk status, citing "continued pressure" on foreign reserves.

Standard & Poor's Corp. helped cause the financial crisis by misleading investors with falsely high credit ratings on bonds backed by toxic subprime mortgages, federal officials alleged Tuesday in announcing a civil suit against the company.

The Justice Department and state prosecutors plan to file civil charges against Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service, accusing the firm of fraudulently rating mortgage bonds that led to the financial crisis, people briefed on the plan said.

Standard & Poor's ratings agency on Tuesday upgraded Greece's credit grade by 6 notches, yanking the debt-heavy country out of default but still keeping its devalued bonds in junk status.

The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc has found a buyer for its textbook business, a unit that once steadied its results against the ups and downs of financial markets faced by its Standard & Poor's rating agency. Private equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC will buy McGraw-Hill's educational publishing unit for $2.5 billion, McGraw-Hill said on Monday.

A weaker forecast of economic growth in Asia is sending stocks lower in early trading on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average is down 47 points at 13,563 shortly after the opening bell Monday morning. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell seven points to 1,454 and the Nasdaq composite gave up 22 points to 3,113.

Stocks are opening lower on Wall Street after some gloomy economic data from Europe. Just after the opening bell, the Dow Jones industrial average is down 53 points at 13,526. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is down seven at 1,453, and the Nasdaq composite index is off 28 at 3,152.

Stocks rallied Wednesday, with the S&P 500 touching its highest level since early May, as corporate profits from bellwethers like Intel and Honeywell defied the market's worst fears.

Stocks ticked up after Monday's global selloff, as a measure of home prices fell less than expected. The S&P 500 rose five points, or 0.4%, to 1319 in mid-afternoon trade. The index's consumer discretionary sector advanced 1.3%, on track for its steepest daily climb since June 14.

Gloomy economic readings from three continents sent stocks skidding and spurred a bearish recommendation from Goldman Sachs, compounding losses in major benchmarks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 166 points, or 1.3%, to 12658 in afternoon trading on Thursday. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 21 points, or 1.5%, to 1334. The Nasdaq Composite ticked down 52 points, or 1.8%, to 2878, on course to snap a five-session streak of gains.