Standard & Poor’s is taking great pains to defend its “A” rating for Lehman Holdings Inc. The rating company fired off a report Wednesday asserting that the re

Standard & Poor’s is taking great pains to defend its “A” rating for Lehman Holdings Inc. The rating company fired off a report Wednesday asserting that the recent collapse of the investment banking firm was a case of negative market sentiment — whether or not grounded in fundamentals — creating significant difficulties that led the company to the point of failure. “In our view, Lehman had a strong franchise across its core investment banking, trading, and investment management business,” S&P stated. “It had adequate liquidity relative to reasonably severe and foreseeable temporary stresses.” The ratings service insisted that looking beyond the current downturn, the firm had good earnings-generating ability. “We believe the downfall of Lehman reflected escalating fears that led to a loss of confidence — ultimately becoming a real threat to Lehman’s viability in a way that fundamental credit analysis could not have anticipated with greater levels of certainty,” said S&P credit analyst Scott Sprinzen. http://ww2.cfo.com/banking-capital-markets/2008/09/rating-itself-sp-defends-lehmans-a/ http://ww2.cfo.com/banking-capital-markets/2008/09/rating-it...