[Infowarrior] - S&P Cuts U.S. Ratings Outlook to Negative

[Richard Forno]

(Anyone not knowing this was coming?  --- rick)

April 18, 2011, 9:19 a.m. EDT

S&P Cuts U.S. Ratings Outlook to Negative

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sp-cuts-us-ratings-outlook-to-negative-2011-04-18-91500

WASHINGTON—Standard & Poor's cut its ratings outlook on the U.S. to negative from stable while keeping its Triple-A rating on the world's largest economy.

"More than two years after the beginning of the recent crisis, U.S. policymakers have still not agreed on how to reverse recent fiscal deterioration or address longer-term fiscal pressures," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Nikola G. Swann .

U.S. stock futures plunged on the news, with Dow industrial futures falling 167 points. Bond yields rose.

Write to Steve Goldstein at steven.goldstein at dowjones.com