Here is an article from the Houston Chronicle which addresses the high number of companies in the US which have had their debt downgraded to junk status. Their headline may be a bit overwrought, but they have a point:

“Companies have not been in such shape since the Depression …
Not since the Depression of 1929 has corporate America received so many black eyes. General Motors, the world’s largest automaker, Sears Holdings Corp., the biggest U.S. department store chain, and Eastman Kodak Co., the largest photography company, led 27 borrowers whose $499 billion of outstanding debt obligations suffered the ignominy of being downgraded to junk.”

and here is the link:

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/rssstory.mpl/business/3387898

Mike