Credit Rating

A prominent credit-rating firm has placed Annapolis on notice that the city's rating might soon be downgraded. Annapolis Mayor Joshua J. Cohen announced Wednesday that Moody's Investors Service has placed the city on a watchlist for a possible downgrade of its credit rating of general obligation bonds. The downgrade would affect about $79.3 million in debt, said city officials, citing Moody's. The city's credit rating is currently Aa1 — the second-highest rating in Moody's rating system.

"You mean to tell me that the success of the economic program and my re-election hinges on the Federal Reserve and a bunch of f—— bond traders?" President Bill Clinton asked that question, according to Bob Woodward in "The Agenda." Mr. Clinton was referring to the fact that if bond traders did not like his programs, they could stop buying debt and send interest rates climbing, souring the economy. At the state level, Gov. Martin O'Malley is equally beholden to bond traders, who, to his benefit, pick Maryland like a greasy bucket of finger-lickin'-good fried chicken.

The economic turmoil of 2008 has left few bright spots, but here's one: Mortgage rates have plummeted. Rates on 30-year, fixed loans are hovering around 5 percent - the lowest level since Freddie Mac began tracking rates in 1971. Some economists predict a further slide in rates once Barack Obama becomes president and rolls out an economic rescue plan. And that could mean thousands of dollars in savings for Maryland homeowners. "The people who have done everything right are now going to benefit, and will be very well rewarded," said Mari Adam, a financial planner and owner of Adam Financial Associates Inc. in Boca Raton, Fla. "We are saying to our clients, anyone who can refinance should refinance.

Of the hundreds of reader e-mails and calls received this year, here are tips on topics that readers seemed to care about most: Telephone With wide ownership of mobile phones, traditional landline phones have become optional for many people. Dropping house-based service eliminates a utility bill for some households. Even those who prefer to have a phone associated with a house, rather than a person, have options. They include bundled packages with their phone or cable TV company, which combine phone service with television service and Internet access.

Audit questions state spending, marketing The Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development spent $184,000 on poker tournaments, catered cruises, parties and other marketing events between 2004 and 2007 that were not "adequately evaluated and documented," according to a legislative audit released yesterday. The report also said the department paid employees with no job duties, bought airline ticket upgrades without required approval and gave tax breaks to firms without verifying their eligibility.

Every one of Constellation Energy Group's 1.1 million electric utility customers can relate to the crisis that forced the company into a shotgun takeover yesterday. Essentially, Wall Street threatened to shut off the power. More precisely, the national rating agencies threatened to cut off the company's credit. And without credit, Constellation was on the brink of losing what it needs to keep nearly all of its multibillion-dollar operation turned on and energized. It was a dilemma common to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., AIG Inc. and other financial implosions of recent days.

Constellation's rating gets cut A major Wall Street firm cut Constellation Energy Group's credit rating after the Baltimore-based company recently revised its estimate of how much collateral it would need to address such a downgrade. Corporate credit rating agency Standard & Poor's cut Constellation's rating from BBB+ to BBB and gave it a "stable" outlook for maintaining the rating. After one analyst highlighted the revisions and another questioned the company's accounting, Constellation's stock sank 16 percent Tuesday, the largest one-day drop since 2001.

A major Wall Street firm cut Constellation Energy Group's credit rating yesterday after the Baltimore-based company recently revised its estimate of how much collateral it would need to address such a downgrade. Corporate credit rating agency Standard & Poor's cut Constellation's rating from BBB+ to BBB and gave it a "stable" outlook for maintaining the rating. It previously had a negative outlook for the higher rating. The rating downgrade triggers about $106 million in collateral requirements from certain company contracts.

If you can improve your credit scores, you will probably spend less money, perhaps hundreds or thousands of dollars less each year. Here is how to raise your scores, so you can receive the best financing rates and deals, better rates on insurance and all the other benefits of having a high credit rating. *What's a good score? You have many credit scores. By far the most important are your FICO scores with each of the three major credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. A mediocre score is 700, while a score above 750 should get you all the best deals and borrowing rates, said John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education for Credit.