After S&P, there was a massive frenzy of fear. The downgrade happened on Friday afternoon. Everyone was waiting to see how the world would react when the markets opened Monday morning. As head of U.S. Treasury strategies at the Royal Bank of Scotland, I was especially concerned about what would happen at the auctions for U.S. Treasuries on the following Tuesday and Wednesday. I was on the phone with my colleagues all weekend. We were bracing for the worst-that foreign nations would no longer want to buy U.S. debt because it wasn't triple-A.
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