Wall Street bracing for possible downgrade of U.S. credit

The Washington Post reports:

Wall Street bankers have begun discussing plans for responding to a downgrade of U.S. credit, according to people familiar with the talks. Specifically, banks want to find ways to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis, when investors acting as a herd started demanding tens of billions of dollars in collateral from banks because of fears about their health.

Meanwhile, some financial firms have begun taking steps because of their own mounting concerns about what could happen in the bond market in the coming months. J.P. Morgan Chase has reported that some financial companies have started shifting from longer-term investments to bonds that will be paid back in the next seven days.