Why Rapid Ratings?

Because credit and equity risk managers and portfolio managers require more accurate, more predictive, unbiased information about corporate financial health than currently is offered in the marketplace.

Rapid Ratings™ is a unique financial services company utilizing a proprietary quantitative system to rate the financial health of corporations and financial institutions. The large rating agencies, Standard & Poor's (“S&P”), Moody's and Fitch, are rife with biases and conflicts of interest and have been under massive market and regulatory scrutiny, beginning with the Enron and WorldCom crises in 2001/2002 through to the current subprime crisis and the current global economic and financial crisis. Rapid Ratings™ has none of the numerous biases or conflicts of interests embedded in the approaches of the incumbent rating agencies. Rapid Ratings™ has a unique methodology for evaluating the FHRs™ of companies that is not only early and insightful; it is also timely and actionable by credit and equity market professionals.

Jones Apparel: FHR in Relation to 5 Year CDS Spread

Material deterioration in financial health indicates an increased risk profile for a company. The graph above shows the 5 year CDS spread of Jones Apparel widening when the company drops below the investment grade threshold of 65, and extreme widening of CDS following two significant downgrades.