Contents ...
1. Got S&P Ratings?
2. Got CMBS Info?

Got S&P Ratings? ... Last week's question generated a bunch of ideas. Shawn Nelson at Laureate Capital, Pittsburgh, PA, pointed out that Standard & Poor's has launched RatingsDirect, an interactive service that does provide access to S&P ratings online. (Pike Note: It's not clear how much it costs, although you can request information by filling out a form.) ... Want free ratings? Julia Smith at Trammell Crow suggests, "Go to www.standardandpoors.com/ratings/ratings/index.htm. You can request ratings online and they will be e-mailed to you." (Pike Note: Max of 4 per day with delivery promised within two days!)

Finally, Bonnie Roberts at Pizzuti writes that S&P ratings are available for subscribers to PersonalWealth.com for $9.95 per month (30-day free subscription). "My analyst, Katie McAdams, found this for me." On the home page in the Quotes/Research area, input the ticker symbol, click the Company/Fund Profile button and then Go. Once you are on the new page, go to Estimates and Opinions in the left-hand column."

Got CMBS Info? ... Jonathan Goldman with M. Robert Goldman & Company, Inc. in Great Neck, NY, writes, "You can see CMBS spreads, as reported by Prudential Securities to Reuters, on a daily basis, by searching the 'AAA Spreads' in the finance section of Yahoo." Goldman states that the following URL should take you directly there:

http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news?p=AAA+Spreads

Joe Petro of VertiNews describes their extensive coverage of the CMBS market: "Currently, subscribers to Commercial Real Estate News receive coverage of CMBS 'price talk' on deals prior to launch and 'Final Pricing' of CMBS deals as they are released to the market. The pricing information is presented in ... tables that cover the individual tranches, ratings, average life, spreads, and the relevant benchmark information. ... And coming soon... On Monday, November 8th we will be launching a CMBS pipeline that will provide updates and details of upcoming CMBS offerings and completed deals."

Martha Paschal writes, "Pricing of CMBS is pretty hit or miss, but Duff & Phelps' site does an excellent job of providing ratings for the pools at the Duff & Phelps CMBS Home Page at www.dcrco.com/cmbs/cmbshome.htm. (Pike Note: Click Pre-Sale and Financing Reports in the left-hand column.) S&P, Moody's, and Fitch tend to just publish their press releases."

Web Resources... I've posted more extensive answers to these S&P and CMBS questions in the Financial Research section of PikeNet's Web Resources (left-hand column of home page)

--Peter