S&P downgrades US credit rating for the first time in its history

The United States has lost its sterling credit rating. Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) on Friday lowered the nation's AAA rating for the first time since granting it in 1917. The move came less than a week after a gridlocked Congress finally agreed to spending cuts that would reduce the debt by more than $2 trillion - a tumultuous process that contributed to convulsions in financial markets. The promised cuts were not enough to satisfy S&P.