;

S&P Lowers Rating of SPDR Bond Fund

On March 18, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services lowered its fund credit quality rating on SPDR Barclays Capital International Treasury Bond ETF (BWX) to Af from A+f. The fund’s volatility rating continued unchanged at S4. S&P said in a statement that it had lowered the rating because of exposure of about 11% of the ETF’s [...]

;

CFP Board Mulls Changes to Disciplinary Approach on Bankruptcies

The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards announced Wednesday that it’s seeking comments by Feb. 17 on whether to modify the way the board handles bankruptcy filings by CFPs. As it stands now, the CFP Board asks CFP candidates on their initial application if they’ve filed for bankruptcy to determine whether they are “fit for [...]

;

Crude-oil futures fall further below $100

Crude-oil futures fell further under the $100-a-barrel mark on Friday, extending losses after talk of an Iranian oil embargo eased and as jitters over a prospective euro-zone debt downgrade attracted investors who bid up the U.S. dollar. February futures of light, sweet crude CL2G ?settled lower by 40 cents, or 0.4%, at $98.70 a barrel [...]