Moody's puts NY Times 'Baa1' rtg on review for possible cut
Moody's Investors Service said late Tuesday it placed the New York Times Co.'s senior unsecured and Prime-2 commercial paper ratings on review for possible downgrade. The review is prompted by double-digit declines in New York Times' newspaper advertising revenue in recent months as well as the rating agency's expectations that the outlook for newspaper advertising remains weak in the near term.I have some personal experience with Moody's. When they announce up front that they are doing a review for a "possible downgrade", it is all but a done deal.
They are simply signaling the market what's coming and giving the NYT suits a chance to prepare a presentation to convince Moody's otherwise.
The market price is already dropping as astute fiduciaries who understand these signals are already dumping NYT securities from their portfolios in anticipation.
Could not happen to a more deserving bunch.
