Standard and Poor's cuts Ireland's rating...European Stock Markets in the morning...TIMBER!

The European's have Standard and Poor's to thank for the hit they are about to take when their markets commence trading. Naturally, the U.S. Equity market will blow it off as Tim Geithner has stated on numerous occasions that our rating would NEVER DROP!

By Wallace Witkowski SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Standard and Poor's said late Tuesday it downgraded Ireland's long-term sovereign credit rating to AA- from AA because of the high cost to prop up that country's financial sector. The outlook is negative.

"The downgrade reflects our opinion that the rising budgetary cost of supporting the Irish financial sector will further weaken the government's fiscal flexibility over the medium term," said Trevor Cullinan, an S and P credit analyst, in a statement.