Banking, finance, and taxes
As S&P Warns About Portugal and Greece... (PT, NBG)
Published:
Last Updated:
Are the credit ratings agencies still viable? If you can believe it, there is a new round of warnings for credit rating downgrades in the lands of the PIIGS. As if you didn’t know that things were bad there… Standard & Poor’s has warned that both Portugal and Greece could see another credit rating cut in the next couple of months.
S&P maintained its “A-” rating for Portugal and kept its “BB+” rating on Greece but both sovereign nations are on credit watch with negative implications. The new rating outlook is after reviewing the key features of terms in the European bailout.
Portugal Telecom SGPS SA (NYSE: PT) and National Bank of Greece SA (NYSE: NBG) are two of the ADRs that trade here in America for each nation. No major price changes have been seen so far as Portugal Telecom is trading down $0.02 in early indications for the ADRs and National Bank of Greece is up marginally.
Maybe the argument should be that no current downgrade is actually good news. Or less-bad news, which is also “good” considering where the reference is.
JON C. OGG
Credit Card Companies Are Doing Something Nuts
Credit card companies are at war. The biggest issuers are handing out free rewards and benefits to win the best customers.
It’s possible to find cards paying unlimited 1.5%, 2%, and even more today. That’s free money for qualified borrowers, and the type of thing that would be crazy to pass up. Those rewards can add up to thousands of dollars every year in free money, and include other benefits as well.
We’ve assembled some of the best credit cards for users today. Don’t miss these offers because they won’t be this good forever.
Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
