...S&P Global Fixed Income Research has found that S&P Global Ratings' outlooks and CreditWatch listings on sovereign ratings have been useful indicators of future rating actions. Since S&P Global Ratings began assigning outlooks to its ratings in 1989, it has lowered one sovereign rating with a positive outlook. On the other hand, it has raised 192 out of 269 sovereign ratings with positive outlooks. (The ratings we refer to throughout this article are long-term foreign-currency sovereign credit ratings.) Similarly, S&P Global Ratings has raised only two sovereign ratings with negative outlooks, and it has lowered 236 out of 413 sovereign ratings with negative outlooks. Of the ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications, 88 out of 134 have been lowered. Historically, S&P Global Ratings lowered ratings that were on CreditWatch negative or that had negative outlooks more quickly than it raised ratings that had positive outlooks. On average, both actions took place within the normal time...