Speaking of junk status, S&P has reduced the city of Hartford, Connecticut’s bond to junk status. The Hartford Courant reports:
Standard & Poor’s downgraded Hartford debt to junk bond status late Tuesday, less than a week after the financially troubled capital city hired a New York law firm with expertise in restructuring municipal finances.
The Wall Street ratings agency downgraded most city of Hartford outstanding debt to BB, a level that’s classified as speculative, also known as non-investment-grade, or junk, from BBB-. That reflects a strong possibility that Hartford could default on its debt or renegotiate it to pay bondholders less money.
That’s bad news for the erstwhile Insurance City. Moody’s reduced its credit rating to junk back in October. Both ratings agencies continue to have the city on credit watch.
Can bankruptcy or whatever the equivalent for cities in Connecticut is be far away?
The irony of this should not be ignored. On a per capita basis Connecticut is the richest state in the Union.
