S&P Global Credit Markets Digest

Business Wire, Sept 16, 2003

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 16, 2003

ASIA-PACIFIC UPDATE:

Here is the current lineup of top articles and research from Standard & Poor's:

COMING UP:

-- Peer Comparison: New York State Electric Transmission and

Distribution Companies

-- Credit FAQ: Progress Energy Inc.

-- More Department Store Retailers Exiting Private-Label Credit

Card Business

-- Bank Loan Recovery Rates Likely Bottoming Out this Year

-- Estimating Loan Recovery Prospects

-- Syndicated Loan Primer

-- Rating Secured Loans--the Basics

TELECONFERENCES:

-- Trends in European Banking, Tue., Sept. 23, 10:00 AM

-- Capital Goods Industry Credit Quality, Thurs., Sept. 25, 2003,

10:00 AM

All times Eastern U.S. unless otherwise noted. For details, please see ratingsdirect.com or standardandpoors.com.

PUBLISHED:

RESEARCH COMMENT & FEATURE ARTICLES

CORPORATES

-- Industry Report Card: U.S. Oil & Gas

-- U.S. Wireline Update: Dealing With a Difficult Environment

-- Industry Report Card: North American Automotive Suppliers

-- Report: Business Risk Key to Predicting Cash Flow in Corporate

Securitizations

-- Industry Report Card: European Automotive Suppliers

-- Industry Report Card: European Media and Entertainment,

Leisure, and Lodging

-- Credit FAQ: El Paso Corp.

-- Credit FAQ: Nortel Networks

-- Credit Perspectives on Rural Local Exchange Carriers

FINANCIAL SERVICES

-- U.S. Mortgage Insurance Industry To Remain Strong Despite

Negative Outlook

-- Home Loans and Islamic Banking Are Growth Areas For Malaysia's

Banks

-- Malaysian Housing Loans: Moderate Risk Despite Almost Doubling

in Five Years

-- Malaysian Islamic Financing Risks Are Manageable

GLOBAL FIXED INCOME

-- U.S. Economic Forecast: A Tale of Two Stimuli

-- S&P Global Bond Markets' Weakest Links & Monthly Default Rates

PUBLIC FINANCE (U.S.)

-- Ohio City and County 2003 Ratings Comparison

-- Market Heat Rates--Another Useful Metric for Electric Industry

-- EPA Rule Could Produce Some Positive Credit Implications for

U.S. Utilities

-- Public Finance Report Card: The U.S. States

STRUCTURED FINANCE

-- CDO Manager Focus: AXA Investment Managers - Partially Funded

Hybrid Investment-Grade Report

-- S&P Releases CDO Performance Benchmark "ROC Report" for

September 2003

-- Criteria for Rating Synthetic CDO Transactions Published

-- Balancing Cash Flow Predictability and Debt Capacity in

Corporate Securitizations

-- Legal Issues in German Asset-Backed Securitizations

SOVEREIGNS

-- Risky Move to Float China's Exchange Rate

-- Rating Sukuk--How Rating Methodologies Apply to Islamic Debt

Financing

-- Any Float of China's Currency Could Harm its Sovereign Ratings

-- Malaysia's 2004 Budget: A Step Forward for Fiscal

Consolidation

LOCAL AND REGIONAL GOVERNMENTS

-- South Australia's 'AA ' Rating; A Comparative Study of

Financial and Economic Performance

RATING ACTIONS

CORPORATE RATINGS

-- Taiwan's Ritek Corp. Outlook Revised to Stable; US$160 Mil.

Bonds Due 2008 Rated 'B '

-- Cox Communications Inc.'s $750 Million Senior Notes Rated BBB

-- Johnson Controls Inc. Assigned 'A' Ratings on $500 Million in

Senior Notes

-- Station Casinos Inc. Outlook Revised to Stable, Ratings

Affirmed on Good Operating Results

-- Deere (John) Capital Corp. Assigned Preliminary Ratings on

Senior Unsecured, Subordinated Debt

-- Precision Castparts Ratings Affirmed, Off Watch; Outlook

Stable

-- Buhrmann Ratings To Be Raised After Sale and Covenants

Renegotiation; Still on CreditWatch

-- Parmalat Outlook Revised to Stable Due to Unbalanced Financial

Structure; Ratings Affirmed

FINANCIAL SERVICES RATINGS

-- PacifiCare Health Systems Inc.'s $600M Shelf Registration

Assigned Preliminary Ratings

-- Germany-Based Gerling Life Reinsurance GmbH Assigned 'A-'

Ratings; Outlook Stable

-- China Development Financial Holding Corp. US$310 Million Notes

Due 2005 Rated 'BBB '

LOCAL AND REGIONAL GOVERNMENT RATINGS

-- City of Budapest Foreign and Local Currency Ratings Equalized

at A-/A-2; Outlook Stable

-- Outlook on French City Boulogne-Billancourt Revised to Stable;

'AA/A-1 ' Ratings Affirmed

PUBLIC FINANCE (NON-U.S.) RATINGS

-- Greater London Authority 'AA ' Issuer Credit Rating Affirmed;

Outlook Stable

STRUCTURED FINANCE RATINGS

-- SLM Student Loan Trust 2003-10 Student Loan-Backed Securities

Assigned Preliminary Ratings

-- Presale: Bank One Issuance Trust - Class A (2003-8)

-- Presale: Quintiles Transnational Corp.

RESEARCH ANALYSES:

CORPORATES

-- Votorantim Group

-- Pitney Bowes Inc.

-- Loews Corp.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

-- Pioneer Insurance and Surety Corp.

-- Tower Australia Ltd.

-- John Hancock Financial Services Inc.

-- National Bank of Kuwait S.A.K.

-- FREMAP Mutua de Accidentes de Trabajo y Enfermedades

Profesionales de la Seguridad Social

-- BA Australia Ltd.

PUBLIC FINANCE (NON-U.S.)

-- Greater London Authority

SOVEREIGNS

-- Council of Europe Development Bank

-- Peru (Republic of)

LOCAL AND REGIONAL GOVERNMENTS

-- Seine-et-Marne (Department of)

STRUCTURED FINANCE

-- New Issue: PUMA Masterfund P-8 Series B

Copyright (c) 2003, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services