Q. On Friday, August 5, 2011, the rating agency Standard and Poor's downgraded the U.S, from AAA to AA+. However, the other major rating agencies -- Moody's and Fitch -- retained the AAA status for the U.S. Do you agree or disagree with the S&P downgrade? Given your understanding of bond markets, what signals is the the bond market sending in response to the downgrade? Is this problematic? What other risks can you identify? Please feel free to supplement with articles, but you must cite these. A two to three pages analysis.