Weiss US bond ratings gives new meaning to "Don't Touch Our Junk"

Jack Kemp

Martin Weiss's rating service is the private industry standard. I used to get his newsletter years ago but stopped when he sent out a broadcast email urging all subscribers to vote Democratic in an upcoming election (It was somewhere between 2000 and 2004, as best I recall). Now even Mr. Weiss has admitted that irresponsibility knows no exclusive political administration or party.

From The South Florida Business Journal:
http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/blog/2011/04/weiss-ratings-give-us-debt-a-c.html

Weiss Ratings give U.S. debt a C
Kevin Gale

While Standard & Poor's gained headlines for putting U.S. debt on a watch list for a possible downgrade, Weiss Ratings says the nation is already below average among 47 nations.

The Jupiter (Florida)-based ratings service, which is known for giving opinions on a variety of investments, has ventured into the field of sovereign debt. It gives the U.S. a rating of C (fair), and ranked it 33rd among 47 nations.

“We believe that the AAA/Aaa assigned to U.S. sovereign debt by Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch is unfair to investors and savers, who are undercompensated for the risks they are taking," Weiss Ratings President Martin D. Weiss said. "An honest rating is also urgently needed to help support the political compromises and collective sacrifices the U.S. must make in order to restore its finances.”

On the Weiss Ratings scale, a C rating is similar to the lower end of investment grade among other ratings agencies. In other words, it is about two notches above a speculative grade or “junk.”