Fitch: Prime Stabilizes, Subprime Lags For U.S. Credit Card ABS in 2004.Business Editors NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 3, 2004 Stronger performance in the U.S. prime credit card asset-backed securities Asset-backed security A security that is collateralized by loans, leases, receivables, or installment contracts on personal property, not real estate. asset-backed security A debt security collateralized by specific assets. (ABS) sector will be offset by stagnant subprime trends, though not enough to derail de·rail intr. & tr.v. de·railed, de·rail·ing, de·rails 1. To run or cause to run off the rails. 2. overall gradual improvement in consumer credit quality in 2004, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the latest edition of 'Credit Card Movers & Shakers' by Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings An international rating agency for financial institutions, insurance companies, and corporate, sovereign, and municipal debt. Fitch Ratings has headquarters in New York and London and is wholly owned by FIMALAC of Paris. . 'Consumers should continue to benefit near term from the historically low interest rate environment and from higher tax refunds as a result of the tax cuts enacted last year,' said Richard Drason, Director, Fitch Ratings. 'The lack of job creation, however, remains troubling, and higher consumer leverage and reload (1) To load a program from disk into memory once again in order to run it. Reload is entirely different than reinstall. Reinstall means that you have to run the install program from a CD-ROM or floppy disk and perform the installation procedure over again. of revolving debt amid rising interest rates could prove stressful.' Fitch expects credit card ABS issuance to total approximately $68 billion in 2004, reflecting a slight increase from $67 million last year and continuing the strong issuance trends for the sector. Although prime chargeoffs rose for the first time in four months during the November collection period to 6.67%, the performance remained within Fitch's expectations and actually showed signs of stabilization once the U.S. economy began to show consistent signs of rebound. Collateral deterioration, however, was more pronounced in the subprime market as chargeoffs rose 250 basis points in 2003, with no signs of recovery evident until mid-2004, according to Fitch. The latest edition of 'Credit Card Movers & Shakers Shakers, popular name for members of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, also called the Millennial Church. Members of the movement, who received their name from the trembling produced by religious emotion, were also known as Alethians. ,' which covers the latest trends in the credit card ABS market, is available on Fitch's web site at 'www.fitchratings.com' in the 'newsletters' section corresponding with the 'ABS sector' or by contacting the Ratings Desk at 1-800-893-4824. |
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