The latest round of quantitative easing announced Thursday by the Federal Reserve will almost certainly trigger a rating downgrade by Egan-Jones. Already the rating agency had warned on Wednesday when it affirmed the U.S. rating at AA that "QE3 will likely trigger a negative action." Given that the outlook is already negative (AA-), a downgrade to AA- would be a logical next step for the rating agency. "We are not receiving QE3 positively," Vice President and co-manager of the ratings' desk Bill Hassiepen told MNI Thursday, while the fiscal situation is a "nightmare." While the Fed is seeking to support economic ... (full story)