Now they are IN the frikkin' DOG HOUSE!!!!
"Debt watchdogs chased profit during US spending spree; Moody's denies allegations that it went easy on firms" by Gretchen Morgenson, New York Times | December 7, 2008
NEW YORK - .... Since the subprime mortgage troubles exploded into a full-blown financial crisis last year, the three top credit-rating agencies - Moody's, Standard & Poor's, and Fitch Ratings - have faced a firestorm of criticism about whether their rosy ratings of mortgage securities generated billions of dollars in losses to investors who relied on them.
The agencies are supposed to help investors evaluate the risk of what they are buying. But some former employees and many investors say the agencies, which were paid far more to rate complicated mortgage-related securities than to assess more traditional debt, either underestimated the risk of mortgage debt or simply overlooked its danger so they could rake in large profits....
The rest of the article reads like an apology for them.
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