on a sleepy friday when no one was at work (at least on the trading floors), S&P took a big leap and cut the “outlook”, but not the rating, (talk about going out on a limb) on golden slacks (thanks cramer) and the lehman sisters.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=awvTfLGlyzws&refer=home

seriously, do any institutions still read their propaganda? take a gander at some of the riveting analysis they provide as rationale for the “downgrade”: “our current expectation is that net revenues could decline 20%-30% year-on-year…” (let me guess, they were on the earnings call too); but wait, there’s more: “…we see some possibility, were there to be persisting capital markets turmoil and sharply weakening economic conditions, that financial performance could deteriorate significantly.''

talk about a crystal balls and deep analysis. perhaps we should take this as a sign of a market bottom for financials (never mind the bounce they had on thursday despite CIT). are the “major agencies” still relevant? just askin’…