Next On The Downgrade Docket: Belgium

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/10/2011 10:40 -0400
65 comments

With so much of the attention once again focused on Europe's periphery (which somehow the efficient market could not be bothered with for about 4 months, even though it was all there, staring people in the face all along), it may be time to recall the Europe's core is just as troubled as everything else. Some may recall that back on December 14, S&P came out with a bit of a stunner (which in retrospect looks rather tame following the now forgotten warning on the US Debt): http://www.zerohedge.com/article/contag ... nment-form "And so European contagion is back as S&P, now clearly with a mandate to remind that Europe is in a heap of trouble every month or so, puts Belgium on Outlook negative, saying that it is basically just a matter of time before the country loses its AA+ rating. The bogey: 6 months, which likely means that around May of next year, just like a year prior, we will see the same fireworks out of Europe, only this time not from Greece, but from the very heart of what is left of a solvent continent. "If Belgium fails to form a government soon, a downgrade could occur, potentially within six months. Should a government be formed but is, in our opinion, ineffective in its fiscal stance or devolution, we are likely to consider rating action within two years." Well, it is now 6 months later, and Belgium still has no government. Time to pull the switch?

Bloomberg chimes in on the imminent downgrade of the world's longest anarchy:

“There’s a downgrade looming,â€