Moody’s has downgraded the long-term debt ratings of ING, Rabobank Nederland, ABN AMRO, LeasePlan Corporation and KBC Groep, Belgium’s biggest bank by two grades, and SNS Bank by one grade. I guess the difference between this economic disaster and the last one is that the ratings agencies refused to be ridiculed by pre-emptively downgrading things and the people refuse to bail out banks. Now if only the bought politicians actually listened.

“Dutch banks will face difficult operating conditions throughout 2012 and possibly beyond,” Moody’s said in the statement. The Netherlands “is affected by the ongoing euro area debt crisis and regional economic weakness,” it said.

They’re doing this piecemeal – the same reasoning will be used for every European government and its banks by each of the ratings agencies (general instability in the Eurozone) as they downgrade each of them. If they did it all at once it would create a backlash and volatility in the markets that will be deemed unacceptable by the computer algorithim controlled ponzi scheme market, so they’re breaking up the garbage into more bite sized pieces of uh, garbage.

Everything will be downgraded, because the writing is on the wall – the Eurozone formulates a “solution” and the solution will fall on its face because there’s nothing to back it. If a solution isn’t formulated the people will push and take back their governments because the money control system falls. Damned if the crooks do, damned if the crooks don’t.

Of course, despite horrid numbers the market levitates, as everyone who still chases fiat wealth is crossing their fingers in the hope that the Fed will print.