RJ and Makay

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82% of investors trust their financial advisor and only a small percentage of investors trust Washington policymakers, according to a John Hancock Financial Services survey.  A poll of 1,001 investors revealed that only 30% of survey recipients trust Federal Reserve head Ben Bernanke, and only 28% trust president Obama on economic matters.

Though in the offing for some time, it's still a shock to see a credit agency move toward downgrading U.S. debt. Today, Standard & Poor's (S&P) Ratings Services reduced its outlook on the U.S. to "negative," potentially setting the stage for a downgrade from triple-A status in the near future.

"More than two years after the beginning of the recent crisis, U.S. policymakers have still not agreed on how to reverse recent fiscal deterioration or address longer-term fiscal pressures," explains S&P credit analyst Nikola G. Swann. The chance of a U.S. downgrade within two years is at least one in three, Swann estimates.

Despite its long battle for a much larger budget to cover current activities and comply with new financial reform laws, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) only received a modest budget increase that's not nearly as much as it says it needs.

In the budget agreement finalized late Friday night to avoid a government shutdown, the SEC is slated to receive a $74 million increase to its current budget for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. The House and Senate are scheduled to vote on the budget measure this week.