NEWSLETTER CONTENT
RATING CHANGES
Each month the newsletter reports recent credit rating changes by Moody's and Standard & Poor's. Rating changes are the most important indicator of a fixed income securities' risk and likely performance over the coming months. Rating changes for bonds and preferred are reported on monthly and members can access the rating for any security that is on our current recommended list.
| Issuer | Agency | Action | New Rating |
|---|
| AIG Capital Corp | M | - | B2 |
| Amer Axle & Manufact | M | + | Caa3 |
| Ames True Temper | M | + | B3 |
| Assurant Inc | S | - | BBB |
| Basic Energy Service | S | - | B+ |
| Blyth Inc | M | - | B2 |
| Bon-Ton Stores Inc | M | + | Caa2 |
| Boston Scientific | S | + | BBB |
| Building Materials | M/S | + | Ba3/BB |
| CC Media Hldgs Inc | M | - | B2 |
| Catalina Marketing | M | + | B3 |
| Conseco Inc | S | + | BDollar |
| General Corp | S | + | B |
| Ferro Corp | S | + | CCC+ |
| General Cable Corp | M | + | Ba3 |
| Issuer | Agency | Action | New Rating |
|---|
| Hanesbrands Inc | M/S | + | B1/B+ |
| Highwoods Properties | M | + | Baa3 |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co | M | - | A2 |
| Marshall & Ilsley Co | M | - | A3 |
| MetLife Inc | M | - | Baa2 |
| Norcraft Cos LP | M | - | B2 |
| North Fork Capital | M | - | Baa2 |
| PMI Group Inc/The | S | - | CCC+ |
| PPF Funding Inc | M | - | Baa2 |
| Panasonic Corp | M/S | - | Aa3/A+ |
| Pemex Project Fdg | S | - | BBB |
| Pinnacle Foods Fince | S | + | CCC+ |
| Rural/Metro Corp | S | + | B |
| SandRidge Energy Inc | S | + | B+ |
| Sanmina-SCI Corp | M | + | B2 |
| Issuer | Agency | Action | New Rating |
|---|
| Select Medical Hldgs | S | + | CCC+ |
| Sprint Nextel Corp | S | + | BB |
| Stillwater Mining Co | S | + | B |
| Sunoco Inc | S | - | BBBTCF |
| Financial Corp | S | - | BBB |
| Team Health Inc | S | + | B |
| Titan Intl Inc | M | + | B2 |
| USEC Inc | M/S | - | Caa2/CCC |
| Unifi Corp | S | + | BViskase |
| Cos Inc | M/S | + | B2/B- |
| Wachovia Bank NA | M | + | Baa1 |
| priceline.com Inc | S | + | B |
+ : upgrade; - : downgrade;
Alrt - : possible downgrade; Alrt + : possible upgrade
| Issuer | Agency | Action | Rating |
|---|
| AIG Capital Corp | M | - | B2 |
| Alcoa Inc | M | Alrt- | |
| Associated Banc-Corp | M | Alrt- | |
| Atlantic City Elect | M | - | Ba1 |
| BB&T Corp | M | Alrt- | |
| Capital One Fincl | M | Alrt- | |
| Dillard’s Inc | S | Alrt+ | |
| Fifth Third Bancorp | M | Alrt- | |
| First Maryland Cptl | M | Alrt- | |
| Haven Capital Trust | M | - | Baa2 |
| Highwoods Properties | M | + | Ba1 |
| Huntington Bancshare | M | Alrt- | |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co | M | - | A2 |
| KeyCorp | M | Alrt- | |
| M&T Bank Corp | M | Alrt- | |
| Marsico Capital Mgmt | M | - | Ca |
| MetLife Inc | M | - | A3 |
| Ocean Spray Cranberry | S | + | BBB |
| Onb Capital Trust | M | Alrt- | |
| PNC Financial Service | M | Alrt- | |
| Sovereign Bancorp | M | Alrt- | |
| TCF Fincl Corp | M/S | - | Baa1/BB |
| US Bancorp | M | Alrt- | |
| Wilmington Tr Corp | S | - | B+ |
| Issuer | Symbol | Issue | Moody/S&P Rating |
Par Value |
|---|
| cv | Bank of America Corp | BACS | 10.000% | NR/NR | 15.00 |
| Broadway Fncl Corp | 5.000% | / | 1000.00 | ||
| cv | Citigroup Inc | C H | 7.500% | / | 100.00 |
| cv | Energy XXI Bermuda L | EEXXF | 7.250% | / | 100.00 |
| JPMorgan Chase Cptl | JPM B | 7.200% | A2/BBB+ | 25.00 | |
| Magnum Hunter Rescs | MHR C | 10.250% C | / | 25.00 | |
| cv | SandRidge Energy Inc | 6.000% | / | 100.00 | |
| Tortoise Energy Infr | TYG A | 6.250% | A1/ | 10.00 | |
| cv = convertible | |||||
Q. What happened to the securities in last year’s model portfolios?
A. They are still active recommendations. Many of them can still be seen in the pricing pages of the newsletter and all are visible on the web site. We put together new Models every January to accommodate new investors or those with new funds.
