Death Metal to My Ears

As a follow up to the headline on S&P's downgrades:

"S&P chief economist David Wyss predicted subprime mortgage losses to peak in late 2008 and early 2009 on a conference call this morning.

The economist anticipates an 8% average national drop in home prices between 2006 and early 2008. So far, the US has experienced a 2.1% drop in housing prices, he said.

S&P said this morning losses on subprime mortgage bonds originated in 2006 and late 2005 were higher than they had modeled for when they initially rated the deals. The rating agency said it could not yet pinpoint how high losses would go."

And here goes Moody's:

Moody's Lowers Ratings on Subprime Bonds, S&P May Cut