On April 18, 2011, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services revised its outlook on its 'AAA' long-term sovereign credit rating on the government of the United States of America to negative (see "United States of America ?AAA/A-1+? Rating Affirmed; Outlook Revised To Negative," RatingsDirect). Below are answers to questions that we anticipate market participants might ask in connection with this rating action. Standard&Poor's sovereign credit rating on the U.S. federal government is still 'AAA/A-1+'. We define an entity with a 'AAA' long-term rating as one that, in our opinion, has an extremely strong capacity to meet its financial commitments. 'AAA' is the highest issuer credit rating we assign. The ratings on the U.S. primarily reflect our opinion of the
