Why S&P's Downgrade Means Diddly-Squat

ROCKVILLE, Md. (MarketWatch) â?? After the Standard & Poorâ??s downgrade of U.S. debt, America now carries a rating of AA-plus instead of the coveted AAA rating on its Treasury bonds. Austria, Norway, Germany and Australia are no longer our peers ratings-wise â?? we are, instead, in the company of Japan, China, Spain, Taiwan and Slovenia.