Gyroscopic Investing

So the U.S.'s debt is downgraded because it's supposedly now riskier, and in response everything else goes down in value while the debt that just got downgraded becomes more valuable because it is a "safe haven".

And that old doomed dollar...it's up too.

It's sort of silly really.

Silly, but just as Harry Browne predicted.

Thus proving that the ratings agencies are absolutely useless, particularly when it comes to rating sovereign debt.

I heard a great quote today on Bloomberg radio on the way in to work:  "US treasuries are the least dirty shirt of all the dirty shirts in the drawer."

It looks as though the market reaction is about Europe, not so much the U.S.  Does anyone take S&P ratings seriously anyway?  Seems like everything is right on schedule as it's a race to debase. USDX means nothing as it's a relative scale, not an absolute scale.  All currencies are devaluing against gold in order to push economic growth, gain export advantage, or both.  If the martians looked at the 1930s, it looks strikingly similar.

Clive wrote: Aren't there now some (many?) states with a higher credit rating than the entire country's credit rating.

Good point.

What would a Boglehead think?

http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtop ... 1312836159

Ooops.