Assured Guaranty Ltd. (AGO)

[mlkrborn]

AGO DROPS A BIT ON RATING CHANGE S 19
12:52PM Assured Guaranty expects Q3 operating EPS to exceed the consensus estimate of $0.80; Responds to S&P's rating change (AGO) 18.88 -2.41 : Co stated "Additionally, as of mid-October, mortgage loan originators that have breached representations and warranties have repurchased or agreed to repurchase a cumulative total of $412 million of loans, of which $111 million were in the third quarter alone. We continue to find a significant amount of defective loans and expect to continue to make substantial recoveries." Co also stated regarding ratings change "We are surprised by this rating action, which comes on the heels of S&P's affirmation of our AAA ratings in June 2010... We believe our GAAP and statutory capital resources and portfolio meet AAA standards. These new ratings represent changes in S&P's AAA criteria and market outlook rather than any material change in our credit profile or capital position. Further, in assigning these new ratings, S&P did not provide us with critical assumptions and key sensitivities used in their analysis of certain risks in our RMBS and TruPS portfolios or quantify their view of the extent of our AAA capital shortfall, all of which we believe is required under the Dodd-Frank Act."