Moody’s Corporation – My Sweet Retirement

Soilbuild Business Space REIT has recently issued SGD100 million 3.60% fixed rate notes due 2021. Moody’s has given the notes a definitive rating of Baa3.

Honestly, when I saw the “Baa3” rating, I did not understand what it means. I thought it must be something good. It is very common for REITS to issue notes for refinancing when its debt is due and often I see crediting rating agencies such as Moody’s give a rating for the notes issued.

After some research, I found the below scale used by Moody’s on its website. It is known as Global Long Term Rating Scale.

Credit Rating	Description
Aaa	Obligations rated Aaa are judged to be of the highest quality, subject to the lowest level of credit risk.
Aa	Obligations rated Aa are judged to be of high quality and are subject to very low credit risk.
A	Obligations rated A are judged to be upper-medium grade and are subject to low credit risk.
Baa	Obligations rated Baa are judged to be medium-grade and subject to moderate credit risk and as such may possess certain speculative characteristics.
Ba	Obligations rated Ba are judged to be speculative and are subject to substantial credit risk.
B	Obligations rated B are considered speculative and are subject to high credit risk.
Caa	Obligations rated Caa are judged to be speculative of poor standing and are subject to very high credit risk.
Ca	Obligations rated Ca are highly speculative and are likely in, or very near, default, with some prospect of recovery of principal and interest.
C	Obligations rated C are the lowest rated and are typically in default, with little prospect for recovery of principal or interest.

Note: Moody’s appends numerical modifiers 1, 2, and 3 to each generic rating classification from Aa through Caa. The modifier 1 indicates that the obligation ranks in the higher end of its generic rating category; the modifier 2 indicates a mid-range ranking; and the modifier 3 indicates a ranking in the lower end of that generic rating category. Additionally, a “(hyb)” indicator is appended to all ratings of hybrid securities issued by banks, insurers, finance companies, and securities firms.*

August 2015 was a month of roller coaster ride for most traders and investors.

In 2015, a serious of bad news such “Grexit” Greece exit, China’s Yuan devaluation and slower economic growth, Fed rate hike decision has sent stocks across global markets plunging and Straits Times Index (STI) falling below 3000. As of today, the Straits Times Index (STI) stands at 2,885.32.

I read about the “durable competitive advantage” of Warren Buffett’s favorite companies and was curious about how those companies will fare in times like this where financial analysts believe we are heading towards a bear market.

Will the market plunge like the 2008 financial crisis?

Here goes: