this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2026
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I haven't watched "The Big Short" in a long time... but aren't BBB- rated things "dogshit wrapped in catshit"?
In the mortgage collapse that drove the world economy to the brink, the ratings agencies were rating dogshit in catshit as AAA, they certainly didn't give it something more appropriate like BBB-. There was a good scene where Burry (played by Carrell) went to fitch and asked them why they hadn't changed the rating on the MBS(shit sandwich) when the underlying mortgages were worth zero. The Fitch person said they didn't feel the need to. They were of course being paid--and still are--by the companies they rate.
It's there in the S&P 500 between MSFT and PLTR on the left kind of in the middle (size of the box is the market cap of the company). It's in practically every 401(k) in the US. BBB is somewhere in the middle of the jenga tower.
(the colors are whether and how much the stock rose, not credit rating)
I know :-)
Here's hoping for more red today.
Replying to myself to put up a link to the jenga tower scene of The Big Short in case nobody has seen it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbiDrzTd8fE