The Last AAAngels Standing

Can it be so? While everyone is focused on the low end of the credit market (i.e. subprime) these days, Trader Daily took a look at the high end this morning and found scant pickings indeed.

With a recent downgrade of Nestlé by both Moody's and Fitch Ratings, that leaves just three—yes, read that again: three—non-financial corporate issuers with AAA ratings at all three agencies (the above two and Standard & Poor's).

The triumvirate: Exxon Mobil, Johnson & Johnson, and Toyota Motor Corp.

(Berkshire Hathaway is tops at all three as well, but is a financial services company run by a god, so it doesn't count.)

High oil prices, hybrids, and bandages—the only certainties in these very uncertain times.

by Duff McDonald