U.S. Credit Downgraded: S&P Reduces Rating To AA+ [UPDATE]

U.S. Credit Downgraded: S&P Reduces Rating To AA+ [UPDATE]

’IT KNEW IT WAS COMING’

WASHINGTON — The United States has lost its sterling credit rating from Standard & Poor's.

The credit rating agency on Friday lowered the nation's AAA rating for the first time since granting it in 1917. The move came less than a week after a gridlocked Congress finally agreed to spending cuts that would reduce the debt by more than $2 trillion – a tumultuous process that contributed to convulsions in financial markets. The promised cuts were not enough to satisfy S&P.

The drop in th