Moody's Downgrades 167 2nd-Lien Classes

In a flurry of rating announcements on Dec. 3, Moody's Investors Service downgraded 167 classes of second-lien mortgage-backed securities from nine issuers.In addition, Moody's placed 23 classes of certificates on review for possible downgrade. Among the downgraded securities were 41 classes from six deals issued by Bear Stearns Mortgage Funding Trust; 35 classes from five deals issued by Nomura Asset Acceptance Corp., Alternative Loan Trust; 34 classes from five deals issued by Ace Securities Corp. Home Equity Loan Trust; 17 classes from three deals issued by Morgan Stanley Mortgage Loan Trust; and 16 classes from two deals issued by CWABS Asset-Backed Certificates Trust. "Substantial pool losses over the last few months have continued to erode credit enhancement available to the mezzanine and senior certificates," the rating agency said. "Despite the large amount of writeoffs due to losses, delinquency pipelines have remained high as borrowers continue to default." Moody's said it expects the "significant delinquency pipelines" will continue to erode the credit support for the senior and mezzanine certificates. The rating agency can be found online at http://www.moodys.com.