Sixty-three tranches from 17 mortgage-backed securities deals issued by Bear Stearns have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. One tranche was placed on review for possible further downgrade. The downgrades were attributed to "an increasing proportion" of severely delinquent loans. "The timing of losses coupled with the passing of stepdown triggers for most of the transactions has caused the protection available to the subordinated bonds to be diminished," Moody's said. The collateral consists primarily of first-lien subprime mortgage loans, the rating agency said.
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