Standard & Poor's downgrades EU

The American credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's has downgraded the EU bailout fund to AA+ from AAA. The S&P 500 trades for 13.6 times earnings, down from 15.2 a year ago and 19 percent less than the average level since 1960, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The gauge declined 0.04 point last year, the smallest annual change since 1947, after surging 11 percent in the fourth quarter. The S&P 500 has gained 2.5 percent so far this year to 1,289.09 on Jan. 13.