downgrade

A senior analyst at Fitch warned on Tuesday that the credit rating agency may be forced to slap dozens of American banks with downgrades amid ongoing woes in the U.S. banking industry.

Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman said Friday that the decision by Fitch Ratings to downgrade the U.S. long-term credit rating is regrettable but justified, in large measure due to the out-of-control government spending that keeps adding the the federal debt load.

Analysis: Economic data, statements by politicians, as well as the rating agencies rocked European markets last week. S&P downgraded the AAA ratings of France and Austria to AA+ last Friday.

Netflix Inc., the one-time technology industry darling, saw its shares tumble again on Tuesday due to customer defections, mounting costs, analyst downgrades, and business missteps.

If United States would lose the coveted AAA credit rating, it would nonetheless still enjoy benchmark status as well as lower interest rates relative to other nations.