Downgrades outnumbered upgrades for the third consecutive week, despite an uptick in the latter. Credit deterioration remained concentrated in speculative-grade--all downgrades (but one) and most negative outlooks and CreditWatch placements. More than half of the downgrades are in three sectors: health care, media and entertainment, and consumer products. The retail and restaurants sector now has the most negative net outlook bias following several negative rating actions --all on U.S.-based speculative-grade issuers--including one selective default. Last week, three out of four defaults were in Europe. Reasons for defaults were evenly split between distressed exchanges and missed payments, bringing this year’s total to 43, or around 25% fewer than at this time in 2024.