Ratings Service

Moody's. Fitch's. S&P. Tinder. All ratings services, with the former three revolving mostly around the rating of the credit quality of bonds. And then you have Morningstar and a few other analogous services, like Cramer on CNBC, which rate stocks, mutual funds, and whoever else can get fees for rating.

Why do we have these? Like...why do these things even exist when they've had such bad correlation with reality over time? Well, investors are nervous. When they mess up, lawyers sue. So lots of scaffolding is needed to keep the view stable and steady from on high.

Maybe some day humans evolve away from fear. Right around the 23rd sequel to Saw. (Not on Rotten Tomatoes, another fine ratings service.)