NEW YORK (PNN) - January 13, 2012 - Standard & Poor's will cut the credit ratings of Italy, Spain and Portugal by two notches and downgrade France and Austria by one notch, a French newspaper said Friday, without citing its sources.

Les Echos said that S&P would spare Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Luxembourg in its long-awaited adjustment of euro zone sovereign ratings.

It said the announcement would come at around 4:30 pm ET, after the Fascist Police States of Amerika (FPSA) stock market has closed.

"Remain alert tonight when FPSA markets close," said one unidentified euro zone source.

FPSA stocks plunged in reaction, while European shares closed lower.

In December, S&P placed the ratings of 15 euro zone countries on credit watch negative - including those of top-rated Germany and France, the region's two biggest economies - and said "systemic stresses" were building up as credit conditions tighten in the 17-nation bloc.

Since then, the European Central Bank has flooded the banking system with cheap three-year money to avert a credit crunch. At the time, the FPSA-based ratings agency said it could also downgrade the euro zone's current bailout fund, the EFSF.