Bangkok--23 Jul--Standard & Poor's Looking at the additions to Standard & Poor's U.S. weakest links in each month since January, the transportation, finance companies, and homebuilders/real estate sectors show the greatest vulnerability on an incremental basis, said an article published yesterday. (Note that weakest links are defined as entities rated 'B-' or lower with either a negative outlook or with ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications.) The article, which is titled "U.S. Credit Comment: Oil And Housing Generate Incremental Default Risk By Sector (Premium)," says that means these sectors are incrementally adding to default risk exposure this year. "Media and entertainment continues to lead in terms of the total number of weakest-link additions based on count," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research Group. "This year, the sector has added an average of 3.4 issuers per month to the weakest-links list." Note that appearance on the weakest links list is associated with much higher default vulnerability for issuers than is broadly associated with speculative-grade rated issuers overall. The proportion of defaulters from the portfolios of U.S. weakest links going back to 1999 in any one- or three-year period is higher than the proportion of defaulters from the entire speculative-grade pool. This article is part of our premium Global Fixed Income Research content, which is available to premium subscribers of RatingsDirect, the real-time Web-based source for Standard & Poor's credit ratings, research, and risk analysis, at www.ratingsdirect.com. 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. Media Contact: Mimi Barker, New York (1) 212-438-5054, [email protected] Analyst Contact: Diane Vazza, New York (1) 212-438-2760 Standard & Poor's, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP), is the world's foremost provider of financial market intelligence, including independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data. With approximately 8,500 employees, including wholly owned affiliates, located in 23 countries and markets, Standard & Poor's is an essential part of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a leading role for more than 140 years in providing investors with the independent benchmarks they need to feel more confident about their investment and financial decisions. For more information, visit http://www.standardandpoors.com. Key Contacts: Americas Media Relations: (1) 212-438-6667 media_ [email protected] Americas Customer Service: (1) 212-438-7280 [email protected]