S&P; Lowers Ratings on Security Pacific: In...

S&P; Lowers Ratings on Security Pacific: In another sign of growing worries about California real estate, Standard & Poor’s cut ratings on $9.8 billion of debt and preferred stock of Los Angeles-based Security Pacific Corp. S&P; noted that “deteriorating business conditions in the real estate and highly leveraged transaction lending areas could put pressure on earnings and thus reduce holding company financial flexibility.”