Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico came under increased pressure to issue bonds in coming months to prove it can still access capital, as Moody's Investors Service put $52 billion of the island's debt under review for a downgrade to junk status.

The Puerto Rico government turned to the Government Development Bank of Puerto Rico to pay off a $400 million Barclays note due this month, according to the Caribbean Business web site.

Puerto Rico debt analysts saw some encouraging signs in the commonwealth's economic activity index, which rose in September and October, breaking a 10 month slide.

Puerto Rico Electric Authority's primary effort right now is replacing oil in the generation of electricity, PREPA executive director Juan Alicea Flores said.

It is going to be very difficult for the 2 million Puerto Ricans who do not live in poverty to pay $68 billion of principal, plus tens of billions of interest, plus uncertain amounts of swap termination fees, plus billions of unfunded pension obligations. How was it possible for all this debt to have been accumulated?

Puerto Rico's already high unemployment rate took a substantial jump up from June to October.

During October, Puerto Rico bond prices recouped a portion of their late-summer plunge that pushed yields above 10% for certain bonds. The rebound followed efforts by Commonwealth officials to address the island's wide-ranging fiscal challenges, plus speculation that the federal government might step in to assist Puerto Rico.

UBS AG offered to repurchase some shares of its Puerto Rico bond funds after the commonwealth's debt has lost 16 percent this year.

Puerto Rico's October revenues were revised upward on Thursday.

All agree that Puerto Rico's electrical system must change but disagree on what form the change should take.