Bond downgrades: too little too late?

Moody's has downgraded a slew of bonds backed by home equity loans and home-related credit lines issued last year. In sum, 131 bonds were given lower ratings, and even more were put on watch. Fitch has taken similar steps. The issue is whether all this is coming way too late. Well, only time will tell. For some, it seems like a no-brainer. Then again, at the time of issuance, the outlook for debt repayment was a lot rosier. The recent events in the CDO market may be prompting all the rating agencies to tighten up a bit. They are already taking some criticism, which will surely get worse as the CDO market continues to stagger. That said, the home equity arena may be much better positioned than the subprime area.

For more:
- here's the Investment Dealers' Digest article (For FierceFinance readers)