Sg,

der Rating-Agentur Moody´s bläst dieser Tage ein eisiger Wind
ins Gesicht.

Bis VIER Tage vor dem Bankrott lagen sie bei Enron mit ihrer
Einstufung kanpp daneben (siehe Text unten).

Wenn sie ihrer Ankündigung wirklich Taten folgen lassen und
künftig die Kreditwürdigkeit schneller und in größeren Schritten
anpassen werden, dann sollten sie schon mal ´ne große Schachtel
Stempel bestellen. -"xtra large" mit Aufschrift:"Junk".

Ob sie mit ihren Länder-Ratings ähnlich verfahren?

Für diesen Fall empfehlen wir, die Rating-Skala nach unten um
paar weitere Stufen zu verlängern... mein Vorschlag:

"Stairway to... Japan" ;-)


MfG
G.


Text ist von Bloomberg:

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Moody's May Change Credit Ratings Faster, More Often (Update1)
By Emma Moody

New York, Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Moody's Investors Service plans to respond to criticism from investors by speeding up the process the oldest credit rating company uses to review and change ratings on $2.5 trillion of corporate debt.

The proposed changes follow complaints Moody's acted too slowly to downgrade Enron Corp. and other troubled companies, said Debra Perry, Moody's senior managing director of corporate finance. Enron had an investment-grade rating from Moody's until four days before it filed for bankruptcy.

Moody's proposals include changing ratings more levels immediately rather than gradually and abandoning its practice of putting companies on ``review'' before revising the rating. Credit analysts will also be more likely to cut investment-grade companies to junk, Perry said.

`This is going to cause something of a firestorm,' said Louise Purtle, U.S. credit strategist at Deutsche Bank. `There are so many aspects of the financial markets which are structured around ratings.'

Moody's, which rates 4,000 companies, already has stepped up the pace of ratings changes. Calpine Corp., for example, had its rating cut to ``Ba1,'' a below-investment grade rating, a day after being placed on review for a downgrade. Ford Corp. spent five days on review for a downgrade before the automaker's rating was cut this week. The last time the carmaker's rating was reduced in October, Moody's considered the decision for two months.

``We've heard criticism about the timeliness of ratings actions,'' Perry said in an interview. ``These are issues that need to be taken very seriously.''

Moody's will ask investors, companies and investment banks for comments before making any changes, Perry said. Moody's economist Jerome Fons is drafting a paper outlining the changes.

Too Far

Moody's has 21 ratings to assess a company's ability to repay its long-term debt. The scale for long-term debt descends from ``Aaa'' to ``C,'' while there are four ratings for short-term commercial paper ranging from ``P1'' to ``NP.''

Ratings changes frequently cause wide swings in corporate bond prices because investors have to buy or sell the securities because bond portfolios are frequently based on credit ratings. For instance, many investment-grade fund managers are restricted from holding junk bonds.

Faster credit rating moves by Moody's, especially those from investment grade to junk, could increase the cost of financing for companies as investors demand a premium for added risk.

``Moody's appears to be swinging the pendulum too far the other way,'' said Paul Ciasullo, principal of CreditSights Inc., a corporate credit research firm.

Liquidity Rankings

Moody's is also considering making its ratings more driven by events at companies, Perry said.

``There's a thought that we could move more aggressively to bad or good news, which might include multi-notch changes,'' Perry said.

It's now considering adding a ranking for liquidity of non- investment grade companies, measuring a company's ability to meet its 12-month cash requirements, Perry said. The ratings would be go from ``L-1'' for a company with good liquidity, to ``L-4'' for a company with weak liquidity.

The firm will also soon issue liquidity risk assessments for 300 top-rated issuers of commercial paper. The assessments will be published opinions, citing details of Moody's short-term analyses.

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