S&P downgrades 7 Italian banks (AP)

In the wake of S&P debt downgrades, Merkel vows faster eurozone reforms. European leaders promised on Saturday to speed up plans to strengthen spending rules and get a permanent bailout fund up and running as soon as possible, a day after U.S. agency S&P cut the ratings of several euro zone countries' creditworthiness.

Credit rating agency Standard and Poor's announced on Friday that it had downgraded top Greek banks, Eurobank and Alphabank, and put two others on negative watch.SandP, which had downgraded Greek soverign debt on Wednesday, said it had downgraded the long-term ratings with negative watch of Eurobank, the second-biggest bank and Alphabank, the third biggest, to BBB from BBB plus.It also placed their short-term A2 rating under negative watch.

With Japan's public debt about to hit 240% of GDP, Fitch Downgrades Japan's Sovereign Rating The ratings agency Fitch on Tuesday lowered its assessment of Japan’s sovereign credit to A+, an investment grade just above the likes of Spain and Italy, and criticized Tokyo for not doing more to pare down its burgeoning debt.

Moody's downgraded Credit Agricole, BNP Paribas, and Societe Generale today. This is fresh on the heels of a September downgrade of Credit Agricole and Societe Generale in September. Please consider French bank ratings downgraded again by Moody's Credit rating agency Moody's has downgraded France's three big banks due to their difficulty borrowing money. The agency cut Credit Agricole and BNP Paribas from Aa2 to Aa3, and Societe Generale from Aa3 to A1.

Standard and Poor's Ratings Service cut the ratings on three key Italian banks as part of a broad sector downgrade, reflecting last month's lowering of the country's sovereign rating.

I am still shaking my head over the insane verdict last month in which Six Italian Scientists Convicted because they failed to predict an earthquake. Six scientists and a government official were sentenced to six years in prison for manslaughter by an Italian court on Monday for failing to give adequate warning of an earthquake that killed more than 300 people in L'Aquila in 2009.

Ratings agency Standard and Poor's downgraded Italian automaker Fiat's long-term corporate credit rating from BB to BB-, citing weak demand in Italy and overcapacity in Europe.The announcement came after the Italian auto giant said its net profit in the first quarter soared ten-fold to 379 million euros ($500 million) thanks to its US partner Chrysler, without which it would be in the red.S&P highlighted an increase in the Italian auto giant's debt as well as the "difficult period in the European auto market."

Standard & Poor's downgrades the credit ratings of 24 Italian banks and financial institutions.