5 Reasons For Corporate Thanksgiving

The credit rating agencies should be extra thankful this year. Why? They aren't under the white-hot spotlight of investigation, as many of them looked at pools of low-quality loans in collateral debt obligations (CDO) and provided a high-quality 'AAA' ratings to at least a portion of these securities.

This mispricing of risk led some to believe therewas a conflict of interest between the credit rating agencies and the investment banks that pay fees for the ratings. The fact that these companies have avoided any serious investigation so far is something they should be thanking their lucky start for!

If the company is still writing loans, it should be grateful for not only making it through the worst of times, but also that serious regulatory changes aren't already in place that could cripple profits for decades to come. While there is still a battle going on in Congress, many regulatory changes in the mortgage industry that had momentum have stalled. 

Because the push for regulatory change in the mortgage industry has slowed considerably, mortgage companies should be extra thankful this year.

Any homebuilders that are still afloat should be thanking their lucky stars this year. Some are still paying dividends, despite negative earnings, and share prices have risen off their lows. Also, there didn't seem to be much blame focused on the homebuilders' role in the subprime meltdown, even though some incentive programs and sales tactics could have been fodder for scrutiny.

After the astronomical overbuilding of the last decade, if homebuilders have made it this far, they must be thankful that they are still in business and can see some light at the end of the tunnel.