The number of upgrades and downgrades picked up last week. Total rating actions, including outlook revisions and CreditWatch placements, were net negative due to fewer outlook revisions to positive. Downgrades were exclusively among speculative-grade issuers, and half of them are risky credits (those rated 'CCC+' or below), including one new addition. On the bright side, there were two rising stars, Stericycle Inc. and AppLovin Corp., last week--and no fallen angels--bringing this year's rising star count to more than double that of fallen angels. Last week's three defaults were all by U.S.-based issuers, raising this year's tally to 126.