BALANCE SHEET; WINNERS AND LOSERS ON THE FISCAL BATTLEFIELD.(high end retailers are enjoying a renaissance with their debt ratings and prospects rising)

One doesn't need college-educated debt analysts to know that HIGH-END RETAILERS are enjoying a renaissance, but since Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's Ratings Services employ entire armies of them anyway, the ratings firms felt obliged to take a second look at some of the top top-of-the-line merchants. The verdict? Good and getting better. Moody's upped its ratings on several Saks Incorporated debt issues based on "a stabilization of market share relative to other department stores and sustainable margin improvement." Although Saks' outlook remained stable, Nordstrom's was lifted to stable from negative while its debt ratings were unchanged. "The outlook change…