Proprietary Corporate Bond Analytics   Sterne Agee and Fixed Income Research Company (FIRC) provides its clients with objective credit assessments relating to approximately 400 investment-grade, US-based, industrial issuers of publicly traded, non-convertible debt. Clients can request individual reports for each of the issuers included in the universe of covered issuers. These reports are published semi-annually for each covered issuer. Additionally, reports can be requested on issuers not covered in its universe. Other services include new issuer reports available when an issuer (not included currently in the universe of covered issuers) brings to market a new issue that meets the ratings criteria and when an issuer with qualified outstanding debt receives a revised or new credit rating; that would make that issuer part of the covered universe of issuers for the next scheduled publication of the universe of covered issuers. Additionally, clients can request new issue reports that reflect the most recently available quarterly data when a covered company is reported to be bringing a new issue to market and, from time to time, individual company commentaries. FIRC publishes on its Web site relative value charts that plot spreads against 5-year, 10-year and 30-year Treasury yields for A and triple-B rated debt instruments. Supporting data tables for the charts are also published on the Web site. The fifteen charts are updated weekly.   Sterne Agee analyzes corporate portfolios against FIRC’s Upgrade/Downgrade List, which attempts to identify companies whose rating proxies (composite scores) are unusually strong and unusually weak for either of their current ratings from Moody's or from Standard & Poor's. This identification is carried out largely by statistical means and is based on historical operating data and composite scores. Sample Up/Down List APPLIED MATERIALS INC (AMAT) Upgrade Potential Date Updated: Jun 2006 Composite Score: 72 (Improving) Moody's Rating: A3 (Outlook Stable) S&P Rating: A- (Outlook Stable) Comments: Strong balance sheet; cyclical industry. They have $14.30 of cash & short term investments for every $1 of debt.   AMGEN INC (AMGN) Upgrade Potential Date Updated: Jun 2006 Composite Score: 66 (Improving) Moody's Rating: A2 (Outlook Stable) S&P Rating: A+ (Outlook Stable) Comments: Moody's outlook from positive to stable on 7/19/05.   Sample LBO Risk List HOME DEPOT (HD) Home Depot surfaced recently as a possible LBO candidate. We estimated that the equity component of an LBO would likely require more than $87 billion (paid to existing HD shareholders). The demand for new industrial issues seems to be strong enough to support a public component of $40 billion in 4 tranches that might be $10 billion each. A consortium of banks might provide another $40 billion and the LBO shop might contribute through its own consortium an equity component that would bring the total to somewhere around $100 billion.  For now, it looks as though the Home Depot deal will be just a leveraged recapitalization.