Cisco Appears on Gimme Credit's Investment Grade Bottom Ten

NEW YORK, June 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Gimme Credit, an independent bond research firm, announced today its semi-annual Investment Grade Bottom Ten.  "Relatively low-cost credit is encouraging restructuring, M&A, and share buybacks—all generally negative for credit quality," says Carol Levenson, co-founder and director of research at Gimme Credit.  "Mainly this report is about weakening companies—not necessarily impending disasters—whose bonds we consider rich."

In addition to Cisco Systems the Investment Grade Bottom Ten includes, among others, the following names:  Best Buy, Gap Inc., Progress Energy, Sallie Mae and Tyco International.

"Not only is overall revenue growth slowing at Cisco, but revenue in the core switching segment has declined sharply of late, reflecting more competition from the likes of Juniper and Hewlett-Packard," says Dave Novosel, senior analyst at Gimme Credit. "Meanwhile, margins are contracting because of price pressures and a shift in mix to less profitable products. Leverage has increased because of the steep spending on acquisitions and share repurchases."

The Bottom Ten highlights investment grade and crossover bonds that Gimme Credit analysts view as most likely to underperform the bond market over the next six months.

The complete Bottom Ten report is available upon request.  For additional comment from Gimme Credit analysts please direct to Susan Assadi [email protected].

About Gimme Credit:

Gimme Credit is a leading provider of independent corporate bond research to banks, brokers, hedge funds, investment managers and individual investors. The company provides Daily Research Reports with investment recommendations, Intraday Comments, Credit Scores and Analyst Data Sheets on investment grade, crossover, and high yield corporate bonds to thousands of investment professionals at hundreds of financial institutions worldwide. Gimme Credit was founded in 1994 and has offices in New York and Chicago. For more information see www.gimmecredit.com.

Press Contacts:  Susan Assadi or Angela Jamison

[email protected] or [email protected]

Gitenstein & Assadi Public Relations 800-922-8792 or 480-860-8792

SOURCE Gimme Credit