By: Jack WaymirecloseAuthor: Jack Waymire Name: Jack Waymire
Email: jack@paladinregistry.com
Site: http://paladinregistry.com
About: Jack writes for the InvestorWatchdog website and Worth magazine. He worked in the financial services industry from 1976 to 2004. For twenty of those years he was the president of a Registered Investment Advisory firm and a Broker/Dealer. Jack is the author of Who's Watching Your Money? The 17 Paladin Principles for Selecting a Financial Advisor and is a co-founder of PaladinRegistry.com.See Authors Posts (87) | November 9, 2009 | Bad Products & Services, Deceptive Sales Practices

How can investments be rated AAA one day and junk the next? When investment bankers pay substantial fees to rating agencies to obtain high quality ratings for garbage products. Moody’s, one of the biggest rating agencies in the U.S., has been accused of providing AAA ratings for subprime mortgage pools that were assembled and marketed by Goldman Sachs and other investment bankers. By definition, subprime mortgages are close to junk so how could Moodys give them a highest quality AAA rating? The answer is money, a lot of money.

It is alleged Goldman Sachs sold billions of dollars of this “toxic” junk to unsuspecting investors. The Goldman name and Moody’s AAA rating made investors feel safe. But, they were not safe. They were being deliberately victimized by two “brand names” that put need for profit and executive bonus ahead of their clients’ need for quality investments.

I’m sure ”trust me I am with Goldman Sachs” or “you can trust this investment, it’s rated AAA by Moodys” caused thousands of investors to make misinformed decisions. This abuse of their trust was a deliberate plan to get these toxic assets off Goldman’s balance sheet and onto the the balance sheets of its customers.

Wall Street is famous for predatory business practices, but this may be a new low. The unsavory practice almost brought down the global economy and for what? So greedy executives could buy bigger boats?