There is always more than one opinion on the market. So you should not take the downgrade seriously. They only ones who should, are the investors that use that company's ratings as an integral part of their selection strategy. You must remember, a downgrade needs to be viewed relative to all the other investments that the agency in question is considering. When SBK, for example, rates a company as a sell, it doesn't mean that the company is going to lose money. It means that SBK think that the market will outperform that stock. But SBK is thinking about a basket of stocks and believes that their are better stocks out there. Same with the Americans, but the Americans have a global platform to chose from. If your world is confined to the JSE top40, then you should not take the downgrade seriously at all. Now as for MTN, I think it is a bad investment, but that is just my own personal opinion, subject to a separate debate!