Bond credit rating
Encyclopedia
In investment
, the bond credit rating assesses the credit worthiness of a corporation
's or government debt issues. It is analogous to credit rating
s for individuals.
securities
such as bonds
. These are assigned by credit rating agencies such as Moody's
, Standard & Poor's
, and Fitch Ratings to have letter designations (such as AAA, B, CC) which represent the quality of a bond. Bond ratings below BBB/Baa are considered to be not investment grade and are colloquially called junk bonds.
registered as such with the SEC are "Nationally recognized statistical rating organization
s". The following firms are currently registered as NRSROs: A.M. Best Company, Inc.; DBRS Ltd.; Egan-Jones Rating Company; Fitch, Inc.; Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd.
; LACE Financial Corp.; Moody’s Investors Service, Inc.; Rating and Investment Information, Inc.; and Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services.
Under the Credit Rating Agency Reform Act, an NRSRO may be registered with respect to up to five classes of credit ratings: (1) financial institutions, brokers, or dealers; (2) insurance companies; (3) corporate issuers; (4) issuers of asset-backed securities; and (5) issuers of government securities, municipal securities, or securities issued by a foreign government.
S&P, Moody's, and Fitch dominate the market with approximately 90-95 percent of world market share.
, Aa, A, Baa, Ba, B, Caa, Ca, C, with WR and NR as withdrawn and not rated. Standard & Poor's and Fitch assign bond credit ratings of AAA, AA, A, BBB, BB, B, CCC, CC, C, D.
As of April 2011, there were 4 companies rated AAA by S&P:
is considered investment grade or IG if its credit rating is BBB- or higher by Standard & Poor's
or Baa3 or higher by Moody's
or BBB(low) or higher by DBRS. Generally they are bonds that are judged by the rating agency as likely enough to meet payment obligations that banks are allowed to invest in them.
Ratings play a critical role in determining how much companies and other entities that issue debt, including sovereign governments, have to pay to access credit markets, i.e., the amount of interest they pay on their issued debt. The threshold between investment-grade and speculative-grade ratings has important market implications for issuers' borrowing costs.
Bonds that are not rated as investment-grade bonds are known as high yield bonds or more derisively as junk bonds.
The risks associated with investment-grade bonds (or investment-grade corporate debt) are considered noticeably higher than in the case of first-class government bonds. The difference between rates for first-class government bonds and investment-grade bonds is called investment-grade spread. It is an indicator for the market's belief in the stability of the economy. The higher these investment-grade spreads (or risk premium
s) are, the weaker the economy is considered.
(which began in 2007), when some securities, particularly mortgage backed securities (MBSs) and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) rated highly by the credit ratings agencies, and thus heavily invested in by many organizations and individuals, were rapidly and vastly devalued due to defaults, and fear of defaults, on some of the individual components of those securities, such as home loans and credit card accounts.
, have a separate naming/classification system which mirrors the tiers for corporate bonds.
A potential misuse of historic default statistics is to
assume that historical average default rates represent the "probability of default" of debt in a particular rating category. However, [...] default rates can vary significantly from one year to the next and
the observed rate for any given year can vary significantly from the average.
Investment
Investment has different meanings in finance and economics. Finance investment is putting money into something with the expectation of gain, that upon thorough analysis, has a high degree of security for the principal amount, as well as security of return, within an expected period of time...
, the bond credit rating assesses the credit worthiness of a corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
's or government debt issues. It is analogous to credit rating
Credit rating
A credit rating evaluates the credit worthiness of an issuer of specific types of debt, specifically, debt issued by a business enterprise such as a corporation or a government. It is an evaluation made by a credit rating agency of the debt issuers likelihood of default. Credit ratings are...
s for individuals.
Table
The credit rating is a financial indicator to potential investors of debtDebt
A debt is an obligation owed by one party to a second party, the creditor; usually this refers to assets granted by the creditor to the debtor, but the term can also be used metaphorically to cover moral obligations and other interactions not based on economic value.A debt is created when a...
securities
Security (finance)
A security is generally a fungible, negotiable financial instrument representing financial value. Securities are broadly categorized into:* debt securities ,* equity securities, e.g., common stocks; and,...
such as bonds
Bond (finance)
In finance, a bond is a debt security, in which the authorized issuer owes the holders a debt and, depending on the terms of the bond, is obliged to pay interest to use and/or to repay the principal at a later date, termed maturity...
. These are assigned by credit rating agencies such as Moody's
Moody's
Moody's Corporation is the holding company for Moody's Analytics and Moody's Investors Service, a credit rating agency which performs international financial research and analysis on commercial and government entities. The company also ranks the credit-worthiness of borrowers using a standardized...
, Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's is a United States-based financial services company. It is a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks and bonds. It is well known for its stock-market indices, the US-based S&P 500, the Australian S&P/ASX 200, the Canadian...
, and Fitch Ratings to have letter designations (such as AAA, B, CC) which represent the quality of a bond. Bond ratings below BBB/Baa are considered to be not investment grade and are colloquially called junk bonds.
| Moody's | S&P | Fitch | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long-term | Short-term | Long-term | Short-term | Long-term | Short-term | |
| Aaa | P-1 | AAA | A-1+ | AAA | F1+ | Prime |
| Aa1 | AA+ | AA+ | High grade | |||
| Aa2 | AA | AA | ||||
| Aa3 | AA- | AA- | ||||
| A1 | A+ | A-1 | A+ | F1 | Upper medium grade | |
| A2 | A | A | ||||
| A3 | P-2 | A- | A-2 | A- | F2 | |
| Baa1 | BBB+ | BBB+ | Lower medium grade | |||
| Baa2 | P-3 | BBB | A-3 | BBB | F3 | |
| Baa3 | BBB- | BBB- | ||||
| Ba1 | Not prime | BB+ | B | BB+ | B | Non-investment grade speculative |
| Ba2 | BB | BB | ||||
| Ba3 | BB- | BB- | ||||
| B1 | B+ | B+ | Highly speculative | |||
| B2 | B | B | ||||
| B3 | B- | B- | ||||
| Caa1 | CCC+ | C | CCC | C | Substantial risks | |
| Caa2 | CCC | Extremely speculative | ||||
| Caa3 | CCC- | In default with little prospect for recovery |
||||
| Ca | CC | |||||
| C | ||||||
| C | D | / | DDD | / | In default | |
| / | DD | |||||
| / | D | |||||
Credit rating agencies
Credit rating agenciesCredit rating agency
A Credit rating agency is a company that assigns credit ratings for issuers of certain types of debt obligations as well as the debt instruments themselves...
registered as such with the SEC are "Nationally recognized statistical rating organization
Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization
A Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization is a credit rating agency that issues credit ratings that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission permits other financial firms to use for certain regulatory purposes...
s". The following firms are currently registered as NRSROs: A.M. Best Company, Inc.; DBRS Ltd.; Egan-Jones Rating Company; Fitch, Inc.; Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd.
Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd.
The Japan Credit Rating Agency is a Japanese financial services company which publishes credit ratings to Japanese companies, local governments, and other interested parties. The company is one of the Japanese credit rating agencies which the Japanese financial service agency has approved as...
; LACE Financial Corp.; Moody’s Investors Service, Inc.; Rating and Investment Information, Inc.; and Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services.
Under the Credit Rating Agency Reform Act, an NRSRO may be registered with respect to up to five classes of credit ratings: (1) financial institutions, brokers, or dealers; (2) insurance companies; (3) corporate issuers; (4) issuers of asset-backed securities; and (5) issuers of government securities, municipal securities, or securities issued by a foreign government.
S&P, Moody's, and Fitch dominate the market with approximately 90-95 percent of world market share.
Credit rating tiers
Moody's assigns bond credit ratings of AaaMoody's AAA Bond
Moody's Aaa Corporate Bond, also known as "Moody's Aaa" for short is an investment bond that acts as an index of the performance of all bonds given an Aaa rating by . This corporate bond is often used in macroeconomics as an alternative to the federal ten-year Treasury Bill as an indicator of the...
, Aa, A, Baa, Ba, B, Caa, Ca, C, with WR and NR as withdrawn and not rated. Standard & Poor's and Fitch assign bond credit ratings of AAA, AA, A, BBB, BB, B, CCC, CC, C, D.
As of April 2011, there were 4 companies rated AAA by S&P:
| Moody's Moody's Moody's Corporation is the holding company for Moody's Analytics and Moody's Investors Service, a credit rating agency which performs international financial research and analysis on commercial and government entities. The company also ranks the credit-worthiness of borrowers using a standardized... |
Standard & Poor's Standard & Poor's Standard & Poor's is a United States-based financial services company. It is a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks and bonds. It is well known for its stock-market indices, the US-based S&P 500, the Australian S&P/ASX 200, the Canadian... |
Fitch Fitch - Places :* Fitch, North Carolina* Fitch's Covered Bridge, Delhi, New York* Fitch H. Beach Airport, an airport at Charlotte, Michigan, USA* Fitch Township, Ohio* Mount Fitch, in Massachusetts, on the Appalachian Trail* Fitchburg, Massachusetts... |
Credit worthiness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aaa | AAA | AAA | An obligor has EXTREMELY STRONG capacity to meet its financial commitments. |
| Aa1 | AA+ | AA+ | An obligor has VERY STRONG capacity to meet its financial commitments. It differs from the highest rated obligors only in small degree. |
| Aa2 | AA | AA | |
| Aa3 | AA- | AA- | |
| A1 | A+ | A+ | An obligor has STRONG capacity to meet its financial commitments but is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions than obligors in higher-rated categories. |
| A2 | A | A | |
| A3 | A- | A- | |
| Baa1 | BBB+ | BBB+ | An obligor has ADEQUATE capacity to meet its financial commitments. However, adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity of the obligor to meet its financial commitments. |
| Baa2 | BBB | BBB | |
| Baa3 | BBB- | BBB- | |
| Ba1 | BB+ | BB+ | An obligor is LESS VULNERABLE in the near term than other lower-rated obligors. However, it faces major ongoing uncertainties and exposure to adverse business, financial, or economic conditions which could lead to the obligor's inadequate capacity to meet its financial commitments. |
| Ba2 | BB | BB | |
| Ba3 | BB- | BB- | |
| B1 | B+ | B+ | An obligor is MORE VULNERABLE than the obligors rated 'BB', but the obligor currently has the capacity to meet its financial commitments. Adverse business, financial, or economic conditions will likely impair the obligor's capacity or willingness to meet its financial commitments. |
| B2 | B | B | |
| B3 | B- | B- | |
| Caa | CCC | CCC | An obligor is CURRENTLY VULNERABLE, and is dependent upon favourable business, financial, and economic conditions to meet its financial commitments. |
| Ca | CC | CC | An obligor is CURRENTLY HIGHLY-VULNERABLE. |
| C | C | The obligor is CURRENTLY HIGHLY-VULNERABLE to nonpayment. May be used where a bankruptcy petition has been filed. | |
| C | D | D | An obligor has failed to pay one or more of its financial obligations (rated or unrated) when it became due. |
| e, p | pr | Expected | Preliminary ratings may be assigned to obligations pending receipt of final documentation and legal opinions. The final rating may differ from the preliminary rating. |
| WR | Rating withdrawn for reasons including: debt maturity, calls, puts, conversions, etc., or business reasons (e.g. change in the size of a debt issue), or the issuer defaults. | ||
| unsolicited | unsolicited | This rating was initiated by the ratings agency and not requested by the issuer. | |
| SD | RD | This rating is assigned when the agency believes that the obligor has selectively defaulted on a specific issue or class of obligations but it will continue to meet its payment obligations on other issues or classes of obligations in a timely manner. | |
| NR | NR | NR | No rating has been requested, or there is insufficient information on which to base a rating. |
Investment grade
A bondBond (finance)
In finance, a bond is a debt security, in which the authorized issuer owes the holders a debt and, depending on the terms of the bond, is obliged to pay interest to use and/or to repay the principal at a later date, termed maturity...
is considered investment grade or IG if its credit rating is BBB- or higher by Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's is a United States-based financial services company. It is a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks and bonds. It is well known for its stock-market indices, the US-based S&P 500, the Australian S&P/ASX 200, the Canadian...
or Baa3 or higher by Moody's
Moody's
Moody's Corporation is the holding company for Moody's Analytics and Moody's Investors Service, a credit rating agency which performs international financial research and analysis on commercial and government entities. The company also ranks the credit-worthiness of borrowers using a standardized...
or BBB(low) or higher by DBRS. Generally they are bonds that are judged by the rating agency as likely enough to meet payment obligations that banks are allowed to invest in them.
Ratings play a critical role in determining how much companies and other entities that issue debt, including sovereign governments, have to pay to access credit markets, i.e., the amount of interest they pay on their issued debt. The threshold between investment-grade and speculative-grade ratings has important market implications for issuers' borrowing costs.
Bonds that are not rated as investment-grade bonds are known as high yield bonds or more derisively as junk bonds.
The risks associated with investment-grade bonds (or investment-grade corporate debt) are considered noticeably higher than in the case of first-class government bonds. The difference between rates for first-class government bonds and investment-grade bonds is called investment-grade spread. It is an indicator for the market's belief in the stability of the economy. The higher these investment-grade spreads (or risk premium
Risk premium
A risk premium is the minimum amount of money by which the expected return on a risky asset must exceed the known return on a risk-free asset, in order to induce an individual to hold the risky asset rather than the risk-free asset...
s) are, the weaker the economy is considered.
Criticism
Until the early 1970s, bond credit ratings agencies were paid for their work by investors who wanted impartial information on the credit worthiness of securities issuers and their particular offerings. Starting in the early 1970s, the "Big Three" ratings agencies (S&P, Moody's, and Fitch) began to receive payment for their work by the securities issuers for whom they issue those ratings, which has led to charges that these ratings agencies can no longer always be impartial when issuing ratings for those securities issuers. Securities issuers have been accused of "shopping" for the best ratings from these three ratings agencies, in order to attract investors, until at least one of the agencies delivers favorable ratings. This arrangement has been cited as one of the primary causes of the subprime mortgage crisisSubprime mortgage crisis
The U.S. subprime mortgage crisis was one of the first indicators of the late-2000s financial crisis, characterized by a rise in subprime mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures, and the resulting decline of securities backed by said mortgages....
(which began in 2007), when some securities, particularly mortgage backed securities (MBSs) and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) rated highly by the credit ratings agencies, and thus heavily invested in by many organizations and individuals, were rapidly and vastly devalued due to defaults, and fear of defaults, on some of the individual components of those securities, such as home loans and credit card accounts.
Municipal bonds
Municipal bonds, instruments issued by local, state, or federal governments in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, have a separate naming/classification system which mirrors the tiers for corporate bonds.
Default rates
The historical default rate for municipal bonds is lower than that of corporate bonds. The Municipal Bond Fairness Act (HR 6308), introduced September 9, 2008, included the following table giving bond default rates up to 2007 for municipal versus corporate bonds by rating and rating agency.| Rating categories | | Moody's | | S&P | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Municipal | Corporate | Municipal | Corporate | |
| Aaa/AAA | 0.00 | 0.52 | 0.00 | 0.60 |
| Aa/AA | 0.06 | 0.52 | 0.00 | 1.50 |
| A/A | 0.03 | 1.29 | 0.23 | 2.91 |
| Baa/BBB | 0.13 | 4.64 | 0.32 | 10.29 |
| Ba/BB | 2.65 | 19.12 | 1.74 | 29.93 |
| B/B | 11.86 | 43.34 | 8.48 | 53.72 |
| Caa-C/CCC-C | 16.58 | 69.18 | 44.81 | 69.19 |
| Investment Grade | 0.07 | 2.09 | 0.20 | 4.14 |
| Non-Invest Grade | 4.29 | 31.37 | 7.37 | 42.35 |
| All | 0.10 | 9.70 | 0.29 | 12.98 |
A potential misuse of historic default statistics is to
assume that historical average default rates represent the "probability of default" of debt in a particular rating category. However, [...] default rates can vary significantly from one year to the next and
the observed rate for any given year can vary significantly from the average.
| Year | AAA | AA+ | AA | AA- | A+ | A | A- | BBB+ | BBB | BBB- | BB+ | BB | BB- | B+ | B | B- | CCC to C |
| 1981 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.28 | 0 | 0 |
| 1982 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.33 | 0 | 0 | 0.68 | 0 | 0 | 2.86 | 7.04 | 2.22 | 2.33 | 7.41 | 21.43 |
| 1983 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.33 | 2.17 | 0 | 1.59 | 1.22 | 9.80 | 4.76 | 6.67 |
| 1984 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.40 | 0 | 0 | 1.64 | 1.49 | 2.13 | 3.51 | 7.69 | 25.00 |
| 1985 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.64 | 1.49 | 1.33 | 2.59 | 13.11 | 8.00 | 15.38 |
| 1986 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.78 | 0 | 0.78 | 0 | 1.82 | 1.18 | 1.12 | 4.65 | 12.16 | 16.67 | 23.08 |
| 1987 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.83 | 1.31 | 5.95 | 6.82 | 12.28 |
| 1988 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.33 | 1.98 | 4.50 | 9.80 | 20.37 |
| 1989 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.90 | 0.78 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.98 | 0.43 | 7.80 | 4.88 | 31.58 |
| 1990 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.76 | 0 | 1.10 | 2.78 | 3.06 | 4.46 | 4.87 | 12.26 | 22.58 | 31.25 |
| 1991 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.83 | 0.74 | 0 | 3.70 | 1.11 | 1.05 | 8.72 | 16.25 | 32.43 | 33.87 |
| 1992 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.72 | 14.93 | 20.83 | 30.19 |
| 1993 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.92 | 0 | 1.30 | 5.88 | 4.17 | 13.33 |
| 1994 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.86 | 0 | 1.83 | 6.58 | 3.23 | 16.67 |
| 1995 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.63 | 0 | 1.55 | 1.11 | 2.76 | 8.00 | 7.69 | 28.00 |
| 1996 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.86 | 0.65 | 0.55 | 2.33 | 3.74 | 3.92 | 4.17 |
| 1997 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.36 | 0.34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.41 | 0.72 | 5.19 | 14.58 | 12.00 |
| 1998 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.54 | 0.70 | 1.29 | 1.06 | 0.72 | 2.57 | 7.47 | 9.46 | 42.86 |
| 1999 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.36 | 0 | 0.24 | 0.27 | 0 | 0.28 | 0.30 | 0.54 | 1.33 | 0.90 | 4.20 | 10.55 | 15.45 | 32.35 |
| 2000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.24 | 0.56 | 0 | 0.26 | 0.88 | 0 | 0.80 | 2.29 | 5.60 | 10.66 | 11.50 | 34.12 |
| 2001 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.57 | 0.49 | 0 | 0.24 | 0.48 | 0.27 | 0.49 | 1.19 | 6.27 | 5.94 | 15.74 | 23.31 | 44.55 |
| 2002 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.11 | 0.65 | 1.31 | 1.50 | 1.74 | 4.62 | 3.69 | 9.63 | 19.53 | 44.12 |
| 2003 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.19 | 0.52 | 0.48 | 0.94 | 0.27 | 1.70 | 5.16 | 9.23 | 33.13 |
| 2004 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.64 | 0.76 | 0.46 | 2.68 | 2.82 | 15.11 |
| 2005 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.17 | 0 | 0.36 | 0 | 0.25 | 0.78 | 2.59 | 2.98 | 8.87 |
| 2006 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.36 | 0 | 0.48 | 0.54 | 0.78 | 1.58 | 13.08 |
| 2007 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.30 | 0.23 | 0.19 | 0 | 0.88 | 14.81 |
| 2008 | 0 | 0 | 0.43 | 0.40 | 0.31 | 0.21 | 0.58 | 0.18 | 0.59 | 0.71 | 1.14 | 0.63 | 0.63 | 2.97 | 3.29 | 7.02 | 26.53 |
| Summary statistic | AAA | AA+ | AA | AA- | A+ | A | A- | BBB+ | BBB | BBB- | BB+ | BB | BB- | B+ | B | B- | CCC to C |
| Mean | 0 | 0 | 0.02 | 0.03 | 0.05 | 0.06 | 0.08 | 0.16 | 0.28 | 0.28 | 0.68 | 0.89 | 1.53 | 2.44 | 7.28 | 9.97 | 22.67 |
| Median | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.08 | 0 | 0.18 | 0.83 | 0.86 | 2.06 | 6.27 | 7.69 | 22.25 |
| Minimum | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Maximum | 0 | 0 | 0.43 | 0.40 | 0.57 | 0.49 | 0.78 | 1.11 | 1.40 | 1.33 | 3.70 | 3.06 | 7.04 | 8.72 | 16.25 | 32.43 | 44.55 |
| Standard Deviation | 0 | 0 | 0.08 | 0.10 | 0.14 | 0.13 | 0.20 | 0.32 | 0.36 | 0.43 | 0.96 | 0.84 | 1.83 | 2.02 | 4.51 | 7.82 | 11.93 |
| Year | AAA | AA+ | AA | AA- | A+ | A | A- | BBB+ | BBB | BBB- | BB+ | BB | BB- | B+ | B | B- | CCC to C |
| 1993 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.25 | 0 | |
| 1994 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.85 | 0 | 0 |
| 1995 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.43 | 0 | 0 | 0.98 | 0 | 0 | 0.95 | 0 | 52.63 |
| 1996 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.61 | 12.50 | 0 | 0 | 31.03 | |
| 1997 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20.69 |
| 1998 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.04 | 0.91 | 0 | 0.19 | 0 | 0 | 1.03 | 0 | 0 | 2.34 | 0 | 22.58 |
| 1999 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.77 | 0 | 0 | 0.39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.54 | 0 | 19.35 |
| 2000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.11 | 0 | 0 | 0.61 | 0 | 0 | 2.19 | 0 | 5.26 |
| 2001 | 0.05 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.12 | 0 | 2.22 | 0 | 0.86 | 0.83 | 0.55 | 0.91 | 2.00 | 2.69 | 3.27 | 26.87 |
| 2002 | 0 | 0 | 0.06 | 0 | 0.27 | 0.14 | 0 | 1.77 | 0.19 | 0.70 | 1.26 | 2.03 | 1.12 | 2.50 | 3.60 | 23.24 | 27.03 |
| 2003 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.19 | 0.03 | 0.16 | 0.20 | 0.60 | 0.50 | 0.75 | 0.84 | 1.43 | 3.28 | 1.64 | 5.15 | 32.58 |
| 2004 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.16 | 0.17 | 0.50 | 0.81 | 0.29 | 0.79 | 2.23 | 3.56 | 13.79 |
| 2005 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.08 | 0.06 | 0.15 | 0.14 | 0.45 | 0.33 | 1.34 | 2.53 | 16.08 |
| 2006 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.06 | 0.20 | 0 | 0.33 | 0.36 | 0.26 | 0.36 | 1.42 | 19.18 |
| 2007 | 0.04 | 0.03 | 0.07 | 0.08 | 0 | 0.10 | 0.21 | 0.48 | 0.47 | 1.27 | 5.07 | 1.61 | 1.53 | 0.68 | 1.55 | 1.47 | 24.11 |
| 2008 | 0.53 | 0.35 | 0.57 | 1.15 | 1.15 | 0.87 | 1.42 | 2.27 | 1.26 | 3.45 | 5.60 | 4.21 | 5.07 | 8.53 | 12.84 | 10.28 | 56.92 |
| Summary statistic | AAA | AA+ | AA | AA- | A+ | A | A- | BBB+ | BBB | BBB- | BB+ | BB | BB- | B+ | B | B- | CCC to C |
| Mean | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.02 | 0.05 | 0.06 | 0.08 | 0.14 | 0.37 | 0.16 | 0.38 | 3.56 | 0.81 | 1.24 | 1.22 | 2.18 | 2.83 | 16.73 |
| Median | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.61 | 0 | 0.26 | 1.55 | 0 | 17.63 |
| Minimum | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Maximum | 0.53 | 0.35 | 0.57 | 1.15 | 1.15 | 1.04 | 1.42 | 2.27 | 1.26 | 3.45 | 57.14 | 4.21 | 12.50 | 8.53 | 12.84 | 23.24 | 56.92 |
| Standard Deviation | 0.09 | 0.07 | 0.10 | 0.23 | 0.23 | 0.24 | 0.35 | 0.76 | 0.29 | 0.78 | 12.39 | 1.02 | 2.90 | 2.20 | 2.93 | 5.59 | 16.60 |
External links
- "What Is A Corporate Credit Rating?", Investopedia.com
- "As company priorities shift, fewer get AAA debt rating," USA Today (Mar 2005)
- "Fitch says confident in "AAA" subprime ratings", Reuters (Jul 2007)