I'm Nicole Lappin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand.

It's time for some money we have.

Earlier this month, the United States did not ace its credit test to unpack this story

and give us bonus insight as a recovering finance bro.

I'm talking to Sean O'Malley, the chief editor and creator of the popular investing newsletter

we study markets.

Let's get into it.

Sean O'Malley.

Welcome to Money Rehab.

Hey, thanks for having me.

Earlier this month, Moody's cut the ratings of 10 banks and named six large banks as

potential downgrades.

This is a story really, I think, worth breaking down for the money rehab audience.

So first for any listeners who don't know, can you introduce them to Moody's?

Yeah.

So Moody's is one of the three major credit rating agencies.

So you'll hear that get thrown around a lot.

And the other two are S&P and Fitch.

And the role that they serve is basically just rate companies and governments financial

health.

And so investors rely on them for sort of providing a barometer of, you know, okay, how risky

is this investment?

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