Cost of Downgrade Protest Banner: $895

She hoped to remain anonymous, but Lucy Nobbe's high-flying protest of the downgrade mess has gotten too big for that. The 51-year-old St. Louis woman is the person who hired a plane to fly over New York City yesterday with a banner reading, "THANKS FOR THE DOWNGRADE. YOU SHOULD ALL BE FIRED!" And the municipal bond broker has been fielding national interviews ever since.

"I felt like I had to do something," Nobbe tells the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She originally planned to have it flown over DC, but flight restrictions prevented that. New York City and Wall Street became the next best choice, though it wasn't specifically directed at S&P. That the banner came from a single mom and not some political advocacy group has helped it strike a national chord, notes the Post-Dispatch. The cost of such a stunt is $895, though Nobbe has said she got a discount. (More Lucy Nobbe stories.)