Hi Mr Voss

This is the first time I've heard the phrase 'The Great Recession' and I love it!

Its so funny cause I read this after hearing that Moody's just downgraded the UK...and George Osbourne was defending himself by saying that the markets weren't volatile...and infact the FTSE rose today and also the UK is being allowed to borrow funds more cheaply than before...and for the first time I actually questioned the relevance of the information provided by these rating agencies.

I would like to second your conclusion...the key to any analysis is understanding the data...where it comes from (integrity) and what it is telling you (is it past or forward looking). The world of finance has been 're-based' of sorts...what we thought was true is now not, what we thought wouldn't happen has happened...but the fundamentals (of analysis) remain the same. Each method has pro's and con's and they each tell us valuable information, but together they produce a holistic view of the creditworthiness of a company. Quite a laborious task I'll be the first to admit, but the benefit of trustworthy ratings outweighs the conveinence factor provided by ratings agencies. So yes, the amalgamation of alternative analysis 'combine with a sense of personal analytical responsibility are a potent mix' Indeed! We need to stop being lazy and do a bit of the hard grind ourselves...let's not keep leaving it up to third parties with conflicted interests to tell us who's who in the creditworthiness area.

And thank you for the alternatives...the demand for alternative measures may be great, but by you writing this the supply of information has grown.