If they were sold or not sold, I am more of the opinion that it says something about FMD's ability to judge the students that they are overseeing the lending to. If the big advantage of FMD is that they have their superior proprietary database. If they have their trusts downgraded, even though they may have no financial responsibility left to the trusts, doesn't that say that they made a mistake in the first place in rating them?

Under usual circumstances, yes. I don't think the past two years qualify as 'usual'. Moreover, their business is no longer the same. We still have to see how they emerge. Until then it will be a fee-for-service business that has little to do with judging students' abilities to pay.

So to me it's far from clear that at this point it matters what rating agencies say. What matters far more is what they are planning for in the future. Otherwise I'd rather have them pay me my $5 per share they have in cash. If they do that I'll even promise to buy a few thousand more shares for $2 each.

Mark