Bangkok--15 Feb--Standard & Poor's
Weakest links total 213 as of Feb. 8. This is the same as January's total but down from the 265 recorded one year ago, said an article published today by Standard & Poor's, titled "Global Bond Markets' Weakest Links And Monthly Default Rates (Premium)." The 213 weakest links have combined rated debt worth $197.53 billion.
Weakest links are issuers rated 'B-' and lower with a negative outlook or ratings on CreditWatch negative.
The number of global weakest links has declined significantly from the record of 300 reached in April 2009 as the economy shows more signs of recovery.
So far in 2010 (through Feb. 8), 13 issuers have defaulted, affecting debt worth $5.9 billion. Of these, 12 are from the U.S. and one is from Canada.
"After increasing for 19 months, the 12-month-trailing global corporate speculative-grade default rate declined for the second consecutive month to 9.22% in January 2010 from 9.23% in December 2009," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research Group. "Regionally, the U.S. corporate speculative-grade default rate decreased to 10.89% in January from 10.92% in December, also its second decline since 2007."
In Europe, the default rate rose to 8.27% in January from 7.5% in December, while the emerging markets default rate increased to 5.94% from 5.91%.
The standard version of this article is part of our standard Global Fixed Income Research content. The premium version contains expanded analysis of the article's most significant points, typically broken out by sector and region. Also in the premium version are in-depth charts and tables, the underlying data of which are available for download. Ratings information can also be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site by using the Ratings search box located in the left column at www.standardandpoors.com. Members of the media may request a copy of this report by contacting the media representative provided.
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