Muni Bond Downgrade Onslaught Start's
We warned early on this, and here it is in living color... from Bloomberg.
S&P Ratings Services downgraded 327 municipal issues in the first quarter alone, already exceeding the total of 264 for all of 2008.
Illinois dropped to AA-minus from AA. Rhode Island (AA) and Florida (AAA) are on negative credit watch.
Downgrades are just starting to pour into the muni market.
States, having run through their rainy-day funds, are slashing subsidies to towns and cities, which are already struggling with reduced sales- and property-tax collections.
Some 48 states face fiscal stress, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports, a situation that’s likely to continue for the next two years.
S&P Ratings Services downgraded 327 municipal issues in the first quarter alone, already exceeding the total of 264 for all of 2008.
Illinois dropped to AA-minus from AA. Rhode Island (AA) and Florida (AAA) are on negative credit watch.
Downgrades are just starting to pour into the muni market.
States, having run through their rainy-day funds, are slashing subsidies to towns and cities, which are already struggling with reduced sales- and property-tax collections.
Some 48 states face fiscal stress, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports, a situation that’s likely to continue for the next two years.
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