A Wall Street Journal article takes us back to the weeks before Standard & Poor's downgraded the U.S.'s credit rating. S&P, reports the pub, met with bond shops including Pimco, TCW, Western Asset Management and BlackRock weeks before it downgraded the U.S.'s credit rating by one notch to AA-plus.

Some of those who took part in the meetings said they came away with a stronger sense that there would be a downgrade.

An S&P spokesman told the pub that the firm's analysts are regularly in touch with market participants such as investors, policy makers and the media regarding published ratings and analyses.

TCW officials told the WSJ that they didn't make trades based on what they learned from the meeting. Western Asset, for its part, said it didn't make specific trades based on the meeting with S&P. It did notify its clientele that it believed it was likely that there would be a downgrade.

Both Pimco and BlackRock declined to comment to the WSJ on the meetings or any trading around those meetings. 

Edited by: Armie Margaret Lee


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