S&P Downgrades Spain

The euro zone just can't catch a break. The day after Slovakia finally approved an expanded financial bailout program, the rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Spain, citing a lowered growth forecast and the difficulty of finding financing. S&P projected Spain's economy growing at 1 percent, half a point lower than previously projected, and said the country's private sector will face a harder time finding external financing for its sizable debt. Spain now has a AA- rating with S&P, three steps below the top, with a negative outlook.