The lowest investment-grade rating on S&P’s scale is:

Answer

BBB−

Options - A. BBB− - B. BB+ - C. A− - D. B Why - A. Correct — BBB− is the last rung above the line; Moody’s equivalent is Baa3. - B. BB+ is the FIRST speculative rung — one notch below the line. - C. A− is two full letter grades above the boundary. - D. B is well into high yield.

Bigel, Introduction to Financial Analysis (CC BY 4.0) §13.4–13.6 — risk list and the two-row rate table, shape only; OpenStax, Introduction to Business (CC BY 4.0) §16.6 — ratings-table shape; S&P/Moody’s boundary is common knowledge; the Morningstar DBRS boundary was UNVERIFIABLE (verified-facts §2.7 G10) and is stated as a given, not graded; original issuers