Moody's Ratings

Their system is vague but about as good as it gets which is to say not very.

Moody's ratings
Includes the differences with Standard and Poor's ratings.

Long-term obligation ratings

Investment grade

Speculative grade (also known as "High Yield" or "Junk")

Special

Short-term taxable ratings

Moody notes that "Canadian issuers rated P-1 or P-2 have their short-term ratings enhanced by the senior-most long-term rating of the issuer, its guarantor or support-provider."[14]

[edit] Short-term tax-exempt ratings

Unlike S&P, Moody's has separate categories for short term municipal bonds. The ratings categories largely overlap, though, and have the same implications for the ability to repay short-term obligations.

[edit] Individual bank ratings

Moody's also rates each bank's financial strength.[12] These ratings differ from deposit ratings in that they measure how likely the bank is to need assistance from third parties.