CDO Ratings Are Whacked By Moody's.

The article reports that critics are taking bond rating companies such as Moody's Corp. and Standard & Poor's to task for not responding promptly in their assessment of bonds backed by collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs. Problems with subprime mortgage investments that back the bonds have caused such bonds' ratings to move from AAA to junk. A discussion of Merrill Lynch & Co.'s $8.4 billion write downs is presented.