RETAILING

Moody’s Cuts Wal-Mart’s Long-Term Debt Rating: Moody’s Investors Service Inc. cut the ratings on about $8.6 billion of the Bentonville, Ark.-based discount retailer’s long-term debt. The senior debt was cut one notch to Aa2 from Aa1--Aa2 is still the third-highest level. Moody’s also cut Wal-Mart’s secured bonds to Aa2 from Aa1 and participating mortgage certificates to Aa1 from Aaa. Moody’s said growth could be slow for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. but that the company does have a leading position in U.S. retailing, strong financial flexibility, good systems and the low cost structure it needs to improve performance. Wal-Mart’s most recent quarterly results showed its first profit decline in 99 quarters, and the company’s sales have slowed in the last few months.