Bangkok--29 Nov--Standard & Poor's In November, the U.S. distress ratio recorded its largest monthly increase in five years, rising to 4.9% from 2.3% a month ago and 2.1% 12 months ago, according to an article published today by Standard & Poor's. The report, titled "U.S. Distressed Debt Monitor: Biggest Increase In Distressed Ratio In Five Years (Premium)" says that the increase in distress accompanies considerable widening in nondistressed speculative-grade bond spreads, which rose to 502 bps on Nov. 15 from 392 bps on Oct. 13, despite recent actions by the Federal Reserve to stimulate credit markets. "As of Nov. 15, distressed issues cumulatively affected debt worth $36.2 billion, more than four times the $8.6 billion reported last month," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research Group. "Based on debt volume, the finance companies sector had the largest exposure, constituting 45% of the total debt affected, followed by media and entertainment at just over 20%." Of the 224 companies on this month's distressed list across all thresholds, 50% had either negative outlooks or ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications. The outlooks on 39% of the companies were stable, 7% positive, and 4% developing. Of the 52 companies listed at the 1,000 bps level, 27 were rated 'B-' or lower, and 39 were on CreditWatch with negative implications or had negative outlooks. Ms. Vazza added, "The total number of rated companies with issues trading at distressed levels ballooned to 224, almost double the 120 in October." The report is available to RatingsDirect subscribers who have upgraded their package to include the Global Fixed Income Research add-on. RatingsDirect is the real-time Web-based source for Standard & Poor's credit ratings, research, and risk analysis, at www.ratingsdirect.com. If you are not a RatingsDirect subscriber with the Global Fixed Income Research add-on, please contact your local Standard & Poor's representative or [email protected] for further information. Ratings information can also be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site at www.standardandpoors.com; under Credit Ratings in the left navigation bar, select Find a Rating, then Credit Ratings Search. Members of the media may request a copy of this report by contacting the media representative provided.