S & P Cuts Sears to Junk Status

New York City Standard & Poor's Ratings Services on Thursday lowered Sears Holdings Corp.'s corporate credit rating to non-investment grade of BB- from BB and its bank-loan rating to BB+ from BBB-.

"The downgrade reflects a continued deterioration in Sears' operating performance in the third quarter, and our expectation that sales and earnings will remain under pressure in the important fourth quarter and into 2009 given the current difficult economic environment," said Ana Lai, an S&P credit analyst.