Bingo.

This is one of the reasons I've been going on about the monolines. They're a key component in the bond markets. Taking down the credit ratings on the monolines will mean balance sheet write-downs on the part of everyone who owns bonds insured by the downgraded insurers.

It will also mean that there will be very little new business for the monolines. A monoline with a less than "AAA" rating is effectively useless -- the whole point of their existence at all is to carry an impeccable credit rating to improve the credit ratings of the bonds they insure. Without the AAA rating, their ability to improve the credit rating of the bonds they would insure is compromised.