s1113645@tesla.cc.uottawa.ca wrote: | This week's Economist has a nice tidbit on bond rating agencies and | antitrust on page 80. A comment on firms that trade mostly on their reps. | Is an unsolicited rating by a for-profit agency an act of free speach | or an act of defamation? It seems that Moody has gotten greedy, and is asking for money for unsolicited services, with a carefully worded non-threat. To my mind, unsolicited work is just that. Its something many of us do from time to time, with no expectation of being paid. Usually we don't spend months on a project that won't be satisfying without a contract. To do work and then bill for it without a handshake strikes me as bogus. I wouldn't do it myself, and I have no respect for Moody's, who seems to be doing it. I trust Morningstar more because they bill me for the information they give me. They have no relationship with the evaluated. A much better model. Adam -- "It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once." -Hume