Other companies getting in on the ratings action include CRH PLC (NYSE: CRH), Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK), Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN), CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL), Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK), and Compass Diversified Holdings (NYSE: CODI).

CRH PLC (NYSE: CRH) received an affirmation of its ‘BBB’ senior unsecured rating  with a stable outlook from Fitch. CRH is a building materials company based in Ireland that also operates in the US. The company’s market cap is more than $11 billion. HSBC recently upgraded the stock from ‘Underweight’ to ‘Neutral’.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) received ratings from Standard & Poor’s on $350 million of floating-rate, asset-backed notes. The Class A senior note ($326.75 million) received a ‘AAA’ rating; the Class B subordinated note ($12.05 million) received a ‘AA’ rating; and the Class C subordinated note ($11.2 million) received an ‘A’ rating. The coverage amount on the Class A note is 13.96%, falling to 9.90% on the Class B note and 6.39% on the Class C note. The backing for the notes includes beneficial interest in lease contracts, related vehicles, and fleet receivables.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) subsidiary Wachovia Bank received lowered ratings on 10 commercial mortgage backed securities classes from S&P. Eleven other classes in the mortgage trust series had ratings re-affirmed. S&P based the downgrade on the fact five of the pool’s assets, worth $48.9 million, are in the hands of a special servicer. Three of the properties are in foreclosure, one is 30-days delinquent, and only one is current.

Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) has completed its acquisition of National Semiconductor and S&P withdrew its corporate credit rating on National Semi and replaced it with Texas Instruments’ ‘A+’ rating with a stable outlook.

CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL) subsidiary Qwest has received a ‘BBB-’ rating on $950 million in senior notes due 2021. Qwest will add the proceeds to net proceeds of $557 million from a recent issue of notes due in 2051 to redeem $1.5 billion in notes due next year. CenturyLink’s corporate credit rating remains at ‘BB’ and its outlook is stable. The Qwest acquisition makes CenturyLink the third-largest wireline phone carrier in the US.

Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) received a downgrade on all its ratings from Moody’s following its drawdown of $160 million from its corporate revolving credit facility of $400 million. Moody’s concludes that the drawdown signals weaker cash flow and that the company will consume cash next year, hurting Kodak’s liquidity. The corporate famil rating was downgraded from ‘Caa2′ to ‘Caa3′. Outstanding debt was also downgraded one or two notches.

Compass Diversified Holdings (NYSE: CODI) received a downgrade on its speculative grade liquidity rating from Moody’s. The rating dropped from ‘SGL-2′ to ‘SGL-3′ due to a recent acquisition which Compass paid for from its revolving credit facility. The company is expected to refinance the debt with longer term debt, and Moody’s said that it would likely revert to the higher rating if that happens. Compass owns a stable of nine companies and pays a very high dividend yield of 11.5%.

Paul Ausick

S&P is realizing that the cost to support the financial sector is much higher than its original expectations.  The old “AA” rating is now “AA-” and unfortunately this is not the end of the negativity.  S&P kept its negative outlook, leaving the door open to further downgrading ahead.  The ‘A-1+’ rating covering short-term obligations was affirmed and the transfer and convertibility assessment remains “AAA” for all European Union members.

The negative outlook is there in case the costs of supporting the financial sector continues to rise or if other conditions would arise that weaken the government’s ability to meet its financial objectives.  The financial downgrade is not just on sovereign dent.  It pertains to National Asset Management Agency debt as well as unsecured debt ratings on government-backed securities of Irish banks.

S&P says the support for the financial sector will help foster a gradual recovery but one which will also be slow.  The country’s cost basis is now being put at 90 billion euros rather than 80 billion euros.

Allied Irish Banks plc (NYSE: AIB) was down 2.8% to $2.08 already today and the stock was down almost 1% more to $2.06 in the after-hours session.  This touches the same 52-week low of $2.06.

The Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) closed down 3.5% at $3.86 in regular trading and the after-hours reaction has this one down 2% at $3.78.  Its 52-week low does not come into play unless it hits or goes under $3.10 per ADR.

Building materials maker CRH plc (NYSE: CRH) closed down 15% today at $15.25 and it hit a new 52-week low of $14.76 after a weak US housing figure came regarding existing home sales.  Its shares do not appear to be trading in the after-hours session.

JON C. OGG

• Advance Auto Parts (AAP) Started as Outperform at Baird.
• AutoZone (AZO) Started as Outperform at Baird.
• Con Edison (ED) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
• CRH plc (CRH) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
• Danaher (DHR) Raised to Outperform at William Blair.
• Eli Lilly (LLY) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
• Intel (INTC) Raised to Buy at Needham.
• Leap Wireless (LEAP) Raised to Overweight at Thomas Weisel.
• O’Reilly Automotive (ORLY) Started as Outperform at Baird.
• SEI Investments (SEIC) Raised to Outperform at KBW.

JON C. OGG