Credit and Debt Services in the News

F.C.C. Backs Verizon Sale in 3 States (New York Times)
Regulators cleared the way for Verizon Communications to sell its phone lines in three New England states for $2.7 billion to FairPoint Communications Inc.

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S&P Lowers UPS Ratings on Debt Burden (AP via Yahoo! Finance)
Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's said Wednesday it lowered ratings for United Parcel Service Inc. after UPS said it will take on more debt to cover share repurchases.

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Debt-ridden hospitals get handout (BBC News)
A deal is brokered to bail out two debt-ridden hospitals using money from a regional NHS budget.

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Merrill Cuts Constantinidis's Debt Products Post, People Say (Bloomberg.com)
Jan. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Merrill Lynch & Co. eliminated the job of Theo Constantinidis, head of a unit that developed custom- tailored debt products, and is discussing his departure from the third-largest U.S. securities firm, three people familiar with the matter said.

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Iraq seeks Kuwait "compromise" over debt, compensation (AFP via Yahoo! News)
Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi said on Wednesday that Baghdad has sought "compromise solutions" with neighbouring Kuwait over tens of billions of dollars of debt and war reparations.

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Brazil Lawmaker:Rondonia To Suspend Some Debt Payments-Estado (The Forex Market)
BRASILIA (Dow Jones)--Brazil's northern state of Rondonia will suspend some of its debt payments to the federal government, Rondonia state senator Expedito Junior said Wednesday, according to the Estado news agency.

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Moody's Lowers UnitedHealth Debt Rating (AP via Yahoo! Finance)
Moody's Investors Service downgraded the senior unsecured debt rating for UnitedHealth Group Inc. Wednesday, saying the health insurer's financial flexibility is hampered by a planned acquisition and current stock repurchase plan, which will cause its financial leverage to rise in 2008.

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UPS boosts stock buyback fund, plans to take on more debt (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
UPS Inc., the world's largest shipping carrier, said Wednesday it will repurchase up to $10 billion in company stock within the next two years, and it has decided it will take on greater debt to allow it to make more investments in its business.

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Merrill Fires Structured Debt Bankers, People Say (Update2) (Bloomberg.com)
Jan. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Merrill Lynch & Co., the world's biggest brokerage, fired at least eight bankers in London from a group that sold asset-backed debt and invested the firm's money, people with direct knowledge of the situation said.

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Alliant Declines on Concerns Over Debt Related to Acquisition (Bloomberg.com)
Jan. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Alliant Techsystems Inc., the only maker of reusable solid-rocket motors for U.S. space shuttles, fell the most in more than four years in New York trading on concern an acquisition announced yesterday adds too much debt.

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