Bangkok--3 Oct--Standard & Poor's As the downturn in the financial markets continues its nosedive, corporate defaults in the U.S. continue to rise, said an article published today by Standard & Poor's. Relevant credit metrics in the U.S. show continued deterioration of credit quality alongside a prolonged contraction of new issuance and tightening credit conditions. The number of corporate defaults continues to rise as expected, with nine U.S. defaults in September, bringing the year-to-date total to 61, according to the article, titled "U.S. Credit Metrics Monthly: Default Rate Continued To Rise In September." This includes the notable defaults of Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual and their subsidiaries. This easily exceeds the combined 16 and 22 defaults in full-years 2007 and 2006, respectively. The preliminary estimate for the U.S. 12-month-trailing speculative-grade default rate in September is 2.68% (subject to revision), roughly in line with 2.5% in August and higher than the 0.97% reported in December 2007. "We expect the speculative-grade default rate to escalate to a mean forecast of 4.9% by August 2009, but it could reach as high as 8.5% if economic conditions are worse than expected," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research Group. The report is available to subscribers of RatingsDirect, 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, you may purchase a copy of the report by calling (1) 212-438-9823 or sending an e-mail to [email protected]. 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 Contacts: Diane Vazza, New York (1) 212-438-2760