Does it matter if SA is just junk, or even more junky? Ratings agency Moody's recent decision to put SA on negative outlook caused consternation. But S&P Global's decision to do the same caused hardly a murmur - because S&P already has SA at sub-investment grade "junk" status, as does rival Fitch, whereas Moody's has kept us at investment grade. In S&P's case, SA's foreign currency rating - the rating on our dollar-, euro- or yen-denominated debt - is already two notches into "junk", or speculative grade. A further downgrade would take us down to BB- (double B minus). It would put us on par with countries such as Brazil, Bolivia and Bangladesh, as well as Greece and Guatemala...