Standard & Poor’s (S&P) is one of the “big three” credit-rating agencies, along with Moody’s and Fitch. On August 5, 2011, S&P received much criticism for downgrading the United States’ credit rating from AAA to AA+.
 
On August 8, 2011, New York (NY) Times blogger Nate Silver wrote an article about the downgrade, titled “Why S.&P.’s Ratings Are Substandard and Porous.” Silver was calling S&P’s ratings “substandard and porous” (and not nicknaming the company itself), but the article’s headline of “substandard and porous” was widely cited on blogs and websites. Another blog, in April 2011, had called S&P’s judgment “substandard and poor.”
 
Standard & Poor’s has also been nicknamed “Stalingrad & Poorski.”
   
 
Wikipedia: Standard & Poor’s
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) is a United States-based financial services company. It is a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks and bonds. It is well known for its stock-market indices, the US-based S&P 500, the Australian S&P/ASX 200, the Canadian S&P/TSX, the Italian S&P/MIB and India’s S&P CNX Nifty. The company is one of the Big Three credit-rating agencies, which also include Moody’s Investor Service and Fitch Ratings. Its headquarters are in 55 Water Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City.
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Downgrade of US long-term credit rating
On August 5, 2011, following enactment of the Budget Control Act of 2011, S&P lowered the US’s sovereign long-term credit rating from AAA to AA+.
 
Houston (TX) Chronicle
Sub-Standard & Poor’s
Posted by Loren on August 24, 2006 at 9:47 am
From now on, when a company has its ratings lowered by Standard & Poor’s, I’ll make it clear that I’m referring to the credit rating agency and not the south Dallas coffee shop, Standard & Pours. When I refer to the S&P 500, I’ll be sure to explain that I’m talking about the internationally recognized stock index and not a grande mocha java.
 
The price of everything
Junk Debt Crisis: “Lake Tahoe Housewife To Blame”
June 27, 2007
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Hoders of the investment grade portion of CDOs, rated ‘Super Lovely’ by agency Duff and ‘Angel Delight’ by rival Substandard and Poor, are deemed only moderately likely to have their major organs forcibly removed by anonymous surgeons.
     
Huffington Post
Rating Agencies Escape Overhaul In Recent Bill
First Posted: 07-22-09 08:45 AM   |  Updated: 08-22-09 05:12 AM
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COMMENTS
LHoney
01:05 PM on 7/22/2009
Substandar­d and Poor.
   
HaLaPic
S&P’s judgment on US debt is substandard and poor | Richard Wolff
posted by hapic on 04 20 2011
There are two sane responses to Standard & Poor’s threat to downgrade US bonds’ credit rating: laughter … and a yawn
 
On 18 April, Standard & Poor’s (S&P), one of three “credit-rating companies” that control that sector of the financial industry, revised its outlook on the safety of long-term US debt to “negative” from “stable”. There are only two reasonable reactions to this announcement – although the usual business and political leaders are promoting their usual spins.
 
NYTimes.com—FiveThirtyEight (Nate Silver’s Political Calculus)
August 8, 2011, 9:43 am
Why S.&P.’s Ratings Are Substandard and Porous
By NATE SILVER
Five years ago, if you were an investor looking for guidance on which country’s debt was the safest to invest in, Standard & Poor’s ratings wouldn’t have done much to help you navigate the headwinds of the financial crisis.