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| Government |
| Hartford, Connecticut's debt crisis just got worse |
| 2017-09-27 |
| Zero Hedge Two months after S&P downgraded the state capital of Connecticut, Hartford, to junk, when it cuts its bond rating from BB+ to BB- citing growing liquidity pressures and weaker market access, the city which has been rumored is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection and which has seen an exodus of corporations and businesses in recent months, just got more bad news when S&P downgraded it by a whopping 4 notches deeper into junk territory, from BB- to CC, stating that "a default, a distressed exchange, or redemption appears to be a virtual certainty." "The downgrade to 'CC' reflects our opinion that a default, a distressed exchange, or redemption appears to be a virtual certainty," said S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Victor Medeiros. The rating agency also warned that it could take additional action to lower the rating to 'Default' if the city executes a bond restructuring or distressed exchange, or files for bankruptcy. In our view, the potential for a bond restructuring or distressed exchange offering has solidified with the news that both bond insurers are open to supporting such a measure in an effort to head off a bankruptcy filing. Under our criteria, we would consider any distressed offer where the investor receives less value than the promise of the original securities to be tantamount to a default. In short: while Chicago has so far dodged the bullet, the capital of America's richest state (on a per capita basis), will - according to S&P - be also the first to default in the coming months. Full S&P note below: Hartford, CT GO Debt Rating Lowered Four Notches To 'CC' On Likely Default S&P Global Ratings has lowered its rating four notches to 'CC' from 'B-' on Hartford, Conn.'s general obligation (GO) bonds and Hartford Stadium Authority's lease revenue bonds. The ratings remain on CreditWatch with negative implications, where they were placed on May 15, 2017. At this rating level and due to the characteristics of the city's appropriation-supported debt, we believe its appropriation and GO debt share similar risk and have therefore made no notching distinction. We could differentiate the GO and appropriation ratings again in the future based on our view of their relative vulnerability to nonpayment. Read the rest at the link |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #3 Economics and math is hard! |
| Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 2017-09-27 11:15 |
| #2 Now- with added Progressivism! |
| Posted by: Pappy 2017-09-27 08:33 |
| #1 Long time Democratic controlled cities do so well. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2017-09-27 00:30 |