You Lost Big If You Let 2011 Debt Downgrade Bring You Down

Monday will mark the seven-year anniversary of Standard & Poor's lowering the credit rating on the United States for the first time in recorded history. If ever there was a "this time it's different" moment, it would have been this. The Wall Street Journal article above was generally ominous, as were most news outlets, and in the extreme suggested that it could trigger another "Lehman moment" (the bankruptcy of one of the nations biggest Investment Banks in the Fall of 2008 that sent stocks spiraling over 40% in the ensuing five months). My memory of this episode was investors and advisors alike were clamoring to reposition portfolios to take advantage of this new reality.