The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday, May 23, edition that last week DBRS downgraded its trend rating on credit issues for Canada's Big Six banks to "negative" from "stable." The Globe's Scott Barlow writes that DBRS said the "anticipated changes in Canadian legislation and regulation mean that the potential for timely systemic support for these systemically important institutions is declining." Scotia Capital Research doubts the market will react in a significant way to the news. But Canadian investors are not used to seeing the word "negative" associated with domestic bank stocks. The downgrade serves as a reminder that the business environment for the banks is deteriorating. Consumers are at least close to "tapped out" on credit, the interest rate environment makes profit on basic lending scarce and the growth of wealth management and institutional trading operations makes earnings more sensitive to market performance than ever before. Since December, 2013, a sharply flattening yield curve suggests bank stocks will perform poorly in the coming months. The yield curve can help assess the future for Canadian investors, says Mr. Barlow.