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Date	Synopsis	Length
3/9/2010	Why The Auto Loan ABS Market Is Stabilizing So far, it's been an active 2010 for the auto sector: Sales are on the upswing, and Toyota's recent safety recalls are making headlines. But how has all this affected auto loan asset-backed securities? In this podcast, Standard & Poor's credit analysts Amy Martin and Autumn Mascio track the sector's rating performance, trends, the impact of TALF, recall implications, what's in store, and more.	00:12:06
3/9/2010	A Look At The Dynamics Shaping DIP And Emergence Markets The current round of U.S. corporate restructurings has been marked by accelerated bankruptcy cycles. Lenders have been generally unwilling to fund open-ended bankruptcy processes for a number of reasons, including market dislocation, volatility of distressed enterprise valuations, the recession, and changes to the bankruptcy code dating back to 2005. Standard & Poor’s Director Olen Honeyman provides a look at the forces at work in the DIP and emergence markets and what we think could occur in the near term.	00:10:10
3/8/2010	Why Credit Card ABS Performance Could Improve In 2010 Although high unemployment and bankruptcies will continue to hamper consumers and their ability to pay off debt, credit card ABS performance might improve this year. And our ratings outlook on the sector is stable. Standard & Poor's credit analyst Ildiko Szilank provides the reasons behind our thinking. Szilank also gives her take on issuance and rating actions in the sector in 2010, recent criteria changes, and more.	00:11:23
3/5/2010	U.S. ABS Ratings Performance: What's Behind The Strong Track Record ABS ratings performance has been solid compared with that of the mortgage sector. What’s spurring this stability, especially amid a struggling economy? In this CreditMatters TV segment, Standard & Poor’s Managing Director Mike Binz discusses recent criteria changes, the effects of the TALF program on the ABS sector, regulation, our expectations for issuance volume, and more.	00:14:18
3/5/2010	The Rieger Report: California and the U.S. Municipal Bond Market This week, investors saw U.S. municipal bond yields come down and prices improve in most parts of the maturity spectrum. However, as California anticipated next week’s US$ 2 billion deal, the market gave up some of the gains seen in February. Join J.R. Rieger as he discusses the impact of California’s news on the fixed income market this week.	00:05:50
3/3/2010	REITs: Doing Better, But Obstacles Remain Although REITs have significantly deleveraged over the past year, Standard & Poor’s still expects some companies to suffer net operating income declines of 5% to 20% in 2010. Still, there are opportunities for growth. Managing Director Lisa Sarajian provides an in-depth look at the dynamics shaping the industry and what could lie ahead.	00:06:50
3/3/2010	Economic Update: Snow Jobs Standard & Poor's Senior Economist Beth Ann Bovino notes that this week's employment reports helped calm investors ahead of Friday's big February jobs report. While the ADP private payrolls survey was worse than expected, the big snow storms took most of the blame, and the pace of job losses has slowed. Although it's an encouraging reading, February’s initial claims data may suggest otherwise.	00:03:15
3/3/2010	Capital Goods: Why Credit Quality Could Improve In 2010 Standard & Poor's believes the global capital goods sector is beginning to recover from a steep downturn. We expect credit quality across the industry to stabilize, and perhaps improve, after a number of downgrades last year. However, risks remain. Standard & Poor's Associate Director Gregoire Buet explains the reasons behind the turnaround, the obstacles facing the sector, and more.	00:15:59
3/1/2010	Can Eastman Kodak Stay Relevant In A Digital Era? Despite several rating downgrades in the past 12 years, Standard & Poor's recently revised the outlook on Eastman Kodak to stable from negative. Is the company's credit quality stabilizing? What are its future prospects? Credit analyst Tulip Lim addresses these questions, and more.	00:10:37
3/1/2010	A Solid Foundation Supports Rated U.S. Engineering And Construction Companies The credit quality of the rated North American engineering and construction sector held up well in 2009, despite some project delays and cancellations. Why is that, when commercial and residential spending fell sharply? Standard & Poor's Associate Directors Robyn Shapiro and Dan Picciotto address this question and share their opinion on where the sector's credit quality is headed this year.	00:10:32
2/26/2010	The Rieger Report: Municipals Improve with all Eyes on California as They Prepare for a US$ 2 Billion Deal The U.S. municipal bond market showed overall improvement during the week as yields came down across the maturity spectrum. Also making news this week was the Bipartisan Tax Fairness and Simplification Act of 2010, put forth as a bill by Senators Wyden and Gregg. Listen to J.R. Rieger discuss the municipal market’s improvement, as well as the potential impact of the “Wyden-Gregg Bill.”	00:05:38
2/24/2010	Why U.S. Government Support Is Key To Clean Energy Development The Obama Administration has committed as much as $60 billion to $100 billion to fund new clean energy initiatives. Through its actions, the government hopes to spur more private investment in solar, wind, nuclear, and biomass projects throughout the U.S. In this CreditMatters TV segment, Standard & Poor's Managing Director Steve Dreyer provides an in-depth look at the various energy and climate change proposals and the possible credit implications involved.	00:08:51
2/23/2010	U.S. And European Media Companies: What Lies Ahead For Credit Quality? Economic weakness, structural shifts, and declines in advertising dollars hurt U.S. and European media companies last year. We expect a varying pace of cyclical recovery for U.S. versus European media from 2010 to 2011, with a continuing shift in underlying fundamentals. Standard & Poor's credit analysts Heather Goodchild and Raam Ratnam discuss the outlook and ratings implications for the sector this year.	00:15:52
2/22/2010	For Bull And Bear Markets, What Are The Recovery Values Across The Capital Structure? Diane Vazza, Head of Standard & Poor’s Global Fixed Income Research, discusses Standard & Poor's recently released U.S. recovery study, "Increased Defaults And Low Liquidity Depressed U.S. Recovery Rates In Early 2009." She highlights the range of recovery values across the capital structure in both advancing and down markets.	00:07:03
2/19/2010	The Rieger Report: Municipal Bond Performance in Midst of Negative News Headlines President’s Day shortened the week for the U.S. municipal bond market, as California remained under the microscope. While the municipal market continued to trade in a narrow band, headlines such as “Muni Threat: Cities Weigh Chapter 9” highlighted the choice faced by some municipal bond issuers. Listen to J.R. Rieger discuss the weekly headlines in conjunction with S&P Fixed Income Indices’ performance.	00:05:11
2/18/2010	Australian Investment Markets: Hold On, We're Going Up The Australian investment markets have been on a steady upward climb in 2010. So will that climb continue and which sectors are likely to offer the best investment opportunities? What are the biggest risks to the continued growth and which sectors are most exposed to external shocks? Tune in as Standard & Poor’s joint head of Wealth Management Paul O’Connor shares his views.	00:14:52
2/17/2010	A Look At The Credit Trends Shaping The U.S. Midstream Energy Sector The recession hit midstream energy companies' credit quality hard, as several firms launched major expansions amid declining commodity prices and eroding demand for refined oil products. Has the sector finally tapped into recovery? Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Bill Ferara discusses the key credit factors influencing the industry, which companies are poised for upgrades or downgrades in 2010, and more.	00:08:55
2/17/2010	Economic Update: Warming Trend Standard & Poor's Chief Economist David Wyss notes that it was a cold week for the economy and the markets up in the Northeast, but a pretty hot week for economic data.	00:03:15
2/16/2010	European Utilities: A Look At The Factors Shaping The Industry In the past year, Europe’s utility sector has shown its resilience and ratings have been stable compared with other corporate sectors. However, about 40% of rated issuers have a negative outlook or are on CreditWatch negative. What lies ahead for the sector? Standard & Poor’s Director Mark Davidson discusses the dynamics that are shaping the industry and what we expect for U.K. regulated and nonregulated utilities.	00:06:06
2/15/2010	What's Behind Kraft Foods' Acquisition Of Cadbury PLC On Feb. 2, 2010, Kraft Foods Inc. announced that it had taken control of British confectionery company Cadbury PLC, following months of speculation. In this podcast, Standard & Poor's credit analyst Alison Sullivan addresses some of the most common questions about the transaction.	00:08:59
2/12/2010	European Project Finance: Why Credit Quality Could Remain Solid In 2010 The credit quality of projects rated by Standard & Poor’s held up well in 2009, and we believe the sector could perform similarly in 2010. Senior Director Lidia Polakovic discusses the reasons behind our thinking. Topics include the growing role of renewable energy projects and financing future projects via the bond markets.	00:06:59
2/12/2010	Why Credit Quality May Improve For European Metals And Mining Companies In 2010 In 2009, substantial price declines hampered Europe’s metals and mining companies. However, metals prices have risen significantly in the past few months, which could bode well for credit quality in the mining sector in 2010, if sustained. However, for steelmakers we expect only a weak recovery. In this CreditMatters TV segment, Director Alex Herbert discusses how metals prices and spending levels are shaping the industry and what lies ahead.	00:05:35
2/12/2010	A Big Picture Look At Europe’s Leveraged Finance Market Although Europe’s leveraged finance market is recovering after a turbulent 2009, Standard & Poor’s believes it will never be quite the same again. In this CreditMatters TV segment, Director Paul Watters discusses what's behind our thinking. Topics include the trends shaping the industry, prospects for the speculative-grade market, what's attracting investors, and the implications for credit quality.	00:10:33
2/12/2010	Why European Building Products Companies' Credit Quality May Improve This Year European building product companies have suffered significantly during the housing slump. While Standard & Poor’s believes a market recovery won’t happen this year, many borrowers' credit measures may improve. Why? In this CreditMatters TV segment, Associate Director Sabine Gromer discusses the factors underpinning credit quality and what could be in store for the sector.	00:07:02
2/12/2010	The Rieger Report: Indices Stabilize as U.S. Municipal Market Yields Stay within Narrow Band The struggles of some U.S. municipal bond issuers, like the State of California, continue to come to the surface this week as reflected in news headlines. Stability characterizes the municipal bond market while demand for tax-exempt bonds is strong. Listen to J.R. Rieger as he uses the performance of the S&P Fixed Income Indices to highlight developments in the muni bond market.	00:05:12
2/11/2010	How Might U.S. Government Withdrawal Of Extraordinary Support Affect U.S. Bank Ratings? Recent developments have made Standard & Poor’s more uncertain about the U.S. government's willingness to continue to provide extraordinary support to systemically important financial institutions. This could have ramifications for ratings and debt holders. In this podcast, Standard & Poor’s Director Jack Bartko discusses the potential scenarios that might play out. Bartko also examines the reasons behind our recent outlook revisions on Citigroup and Bank of America.	00:08:28
2/10/2010	North American Real Estate Companies Are Ready To Rebuild As the global economy rebounds, the North American real estate industry hopes to shake off all the difficulties of the past few years. In this podcast, Standard & Poor's credit analyst James Fielding discusses the industry's rebuilding prospects after one of the most dramatic housing market corrections in U.S. history. Topics include the current state of the homebuilders and real estate investment trust sectors, our outlook, M&A activity, and more.	00:07:50
2/10/2010	Europe's Media Companies: Why Ratings Could Stabilize In 2010 Last year, Standard & Poor’s took 37 rating actions on 25 publicly rated media companies. Most of the actions were negative. In 2010, however, we expect increasing ratings stability, but that is highly dependent on the wider economic outlook. In this CreditMatters TV segment, Director Raam Ratnam provides the reasons behind our thinking. Other topics include the major trends affecting credit quality and the changing flow of ad revenue to the Internet from print.	00:10:22
2/9/2010	After A Tough Year, What’s In Store For European Retailers And Consumer Goods Companies? After a difficult 2009, are European retail and consumer goods companies poised for a turnaround? Or is more turbulence ahead? In this CreditMatters TV segment, Standard & Poor’s Director Anna Overton assesses the industries’ main trends, the ramifications for the retail sector as consumers spend more on familiar brands, our negative outlook on consumer durables companies, expectations for rating trends, and more.	00:10:30
2/9/2010	Why The Outlook Is Brighter, But Mixed, For U.S. Consumer Products Companies After a rough first half in 2009, marked by significant downgrade activity, rated consumer products companies started to improve their margins, balance sheets, cash flow, and realize the benefits of cost-saving initiatives. In this CreditMatters TV segment, Standard & Poor's Managing Director Nicole Delz Lynch discusses the effects of the weak economy, retail inventory destocking and the resulting impact on ratings, and our outlook for 2010.	00:07:14
2/9/2010	European Post-Default Recovery: What The Prospects Are What does Standard & Poor’s expect regarding post-default recoveries in Europe? It depends on where a lender is in the capital structure. In this CreditMatters TV segment, Standard & Poor's Senior Director David Gillmor discusses, among other things, the prospects for recoveries among holders of secured and unsecured assets and how default rates could affect the post-default process.	00:06:52
2/9/2010	European Corporate Borrowers Brace For A Bumpy 2010 Standard & Poor’s expects corporate borrowers to face tough macroeconomic conditions this year, although 2010 likely will be better than 2009. In this CreditMatters TV segment, Managing Director Christian Dinwoodie discusses our outlook for defaults in the region, the sectors that could struggle most, which ones are improving, and the growing prospects for borrowing in the speculative-grade markets.	00:09:42
2/9/2010	Economic Update: A Puzzling Report? Standard & Poor’s Chief Economist David Wyss notes that it was a relatively quiet week for economic data, except for the employment report released last Friday. The report was both confusing and a major shock when it reported the unemployment rate took a dive to 9.7% from 10% in December.	00:02:34
2/5/2010	Australian Corporate Credit Quality: Holding Up Well As The Economy Rebounds Australia is one of the few developed countries to avoid a recession. In this podcast, Managing Director Anthony Flintoff discusses how the economy has affected corporate credit quality, how we expect sectors to perform, and our outlook for defaults in the near term.	00:07:42
2/5/2010	The Rieger Report: What's Behind the Positive Start for the U.S. Municipal Bond Market in 2010? Investors watch the municipal bond market closely as state and local governments respond to the U.S. recession. Supply and demand of tax-exempt market municipal bonds are combining to hold municipal yields in a narrow range. This week, join Vice President JR Rieger as he discusses how S&P Fixed Income Indices have responded, and more.	00:05:08
2/4/2010	Berkshire Hathaway: Why S&P Lowered Its Rating To 'AA+' On Feb. 4, 2010, Standard & Poor's lowered its long-term counterparty credit rating on Berkshire Hathaway Inc., to 'AA+' from 'AAA', in anticipation of the company's acquisition of Burlington Northern Santa Fe. In this podcast, credit analyst John Iten provides the specifics of the transaction, the short- and long-term implications for Berkshire Hathaway, the impact on its insurance operations, and more.	00:11:52
2/4/2010	Financial Institutions Face Debt Hurdle, As Lower Rated Corporates Face Most Risk The ability of companies to refinance maturing 2009 and 2010 debt, especially speculative-grade issuers, was one of the key risks Standard & Poor's identified in 2008. What a difference a year makes. In this video, Diane Vazza, Standard & Poor’s Head of Global Fixed Income Research, outlines the near-term concerns for financial institutions and identifies risks facing lower-rated, speculative-grade nonfinancial companies.	00:07:23
2/3/2010	After A Tough 2009, Credit Quality Is Likely To Improve For North American Chemical Companies For North American chemical companies, 2010 is shaping up to be a better year for credit quality than last year. During first-half 2009, significant factors hampered the industry, including the weak global economy and companies' limited access to credit markets. What's behind the turnaround? Standard & Poor's Managing Director Kyle Loughlin discusses the reasons behind our improved outlook for the industry, and more.	00:10:24
2/3/2010	Why U.S. Packaging Companies' Credit Quality Could Improve In 2010 Although ratings in the U.S. packaging industry are at fairly low levels, credit quality seems to have stabilized. What's more, improving financial profiles and liquidity, among other factors, enabled several companies to end 2009 with positive outlooks. Will this trend continue in 2010? Standard & Poor's credit analyst Liley Mehta discusses how the industry has responded to obstacles in the past two years, pricing and demand, M&A activity, and more.	00:06:20
2/3/2010	Market Stability Isn't Necessarily Good News For Exchanges And Clearinghouses The market volatility of the past two years meant higher trading volumes and increased revenues for financial exchanges and clearinghouses. Now that the economy and the capital markets have started to stabilize, what’s next for these institutions? Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Charles Rauch discusses the sector’s technology updates and the risks of overconcentration and government regulation.	00:11:04
2/3/2010	Economic Update: An Improving Jobs Trend? Standard & Poor's Senior Economist Beth Ann Bovino notes that this week’s employment reports kept investors a little off balance, ahead of Friday's big January jobs report. The ADP private payrolls survey was better than expected. However, the Challenger report had a different take, highlighting that January layoff announcements reached a five-month high. While presenting a relatively mixed picture, the trend has apparently improved from the triple-digit job losses of early last year.	00:03:10
2/3/2010	Why The U.S. Oil And Gas Sector Faces An Uncertain 2010 After a difficult 2009, what's in store for the U.S. oil and gas industry this year? Standard & Poor's Managing Director Tom Watters discusses the key trends shaping the sector. Topics include natural gas prices, the impact of lower rig counts on production, refineries, recent negative rating actions taken, and more.	00:06:09
2/2/2010	S&P’s Corporate Credit-Backed CDO Criteria: An Overview Of How It Works Last year, Standard & Poor’s released new criteria outlining how we review and rate both cash and synthetic corporate-backed collateralized debt obligations. Senior Director of Structured Credit Robert Radziul provides an overview of what the criteria addresses, including transparency, stability, and ratings comparability issues, the qualitative and quantitative aspects of our analyses, expected issuance volume for 2010, and more.	00:07:12
2/2/2010	U.S. Forest Products Companies Expect To Slowly Recover In 2010 The forest products sector is set to gradually recover. After a few choppy years, paper and paperboard demand has progressively strengthened and companies have aggressively lowered their debt. In this podcast, Standard & Poor’s Director Pamela Rice and Associate Director Andy Sookram discuss our outlook for credit quality, paper prices, industry liquidity, and more.	00:08:43
2/1/2010	Blockbuster Inc.: What's Behind The Company's Weak Performance Blockbuster announced that its fourth-quarter and year-end results would fall far short of expectations. As a result, Standard & Poor's recently revised the outlook on the company to negative. In this podcast, credit analyst David Kuntz discusses the reasons for Blockbuster's poor operating performance, how the company is responding, what's happening in the video rental market, and more.	00:10:19
2/1/2010	U.S. Retailers Express Cautious Optimism For 2010 After A Happy Holiday Season Retailers pulled a rabbit out of the hat by exceeding Standard & Poor’s holiday sales expectations. And consumers’ fears and ratings volatility appear to have abated quite a bit. However, retailers and consumers will likely pursue a cautious path this year, reflecting the floundering economy and high unemployment. Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Gerald Hirschberg provides an in-depth rundown on the state of the industry and what could be in store.	00:07:59
1/29/2010	Why The U.S. Corporate Speculative-Grade Default Rate Could Drop In 2010 Since October 2009, bond markets have improved measurably. As a result, Standard & Poor's has modified its speculative-grade corporate default rate forecast for 2010. However, risks remain. Diane Vazza, Standard & Poor’s head of global fixed income research, provides a comprehensive look at the dynamics at work, including the reasons behind our conclusions.	00:07:46
1/29/2010	Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac: Why The Government Isn't Stepping Out Anytime Soon After the housing bubble burst, government-sponsored entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stepped in to pick up the pieces. Both have been under government conservatorships since 2008. But when will the government be able to safely extract itself from the process? Standard & Poor's Director Vandana Sharma provides a comprehensive look at a complex situation, including all of the obstacles associated with attracting private sector capital.	00:06:43
1/28/2010	As The Economy Recovers, Will U.S. Apparel Makers Follow Suit? A tough economy and declining discretionary spending have dramatically hampered the U.S. apparel industry. However, as the economy slowly rebounds, will the sector get back on track? In this podcast, Standard & Poor's Director Jayne Ross discusses our expectations for credit quality, M&A activity, and how the sector has positioned itself for a recovery.	00:08:33
1/27/2010	Economic Update: The Fed Does Nothing Again Standard & Poor's Chief Economist David Wyss notes that the Federal Open Market Committee met and decided, again, to do nothing, holding the interest rates down near zero for another six-week period. The one surprise was a lone dissenter, Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig, who felt that it was time to remove the language about keeping interest rates low for an indefinite period.	00:04:45

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