S&P Drops U.S Rating to AA, Fannie & Freddie Follow: 5 Easy-to-Understand Effects of a Downgrade

So it's happened -- right or wrong: a downgrade of Uncle Sam's credit for the first time in history. Standard & Poor's announced Monday that it was also downgrading the credit of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac one notch, to AA+ from AAA, its very highest rating. The two agencies guarantee or own more than half the $5 trillion in home loans in the U.S. The announcement followed S&P's downgrade of the government's debt on Friday evening, but the U.S. stock markets -- already spooked by Friday's...Full Story