Standard & Poor's rated Barnes & Noble stock as "strong sell," downgrading the bookseller from a previous rating of "hold."

The credit rating company noted Barnes & Noble's lagging holiday sales figures, predicting that book sales would decline more dramatically in coming years. As GalleyCat reported, S & P recently upgraded Amazon.com's rating to "investment grade."

Here's more from the Barnes & Noble report: "While the holiday season was very challenging due to macro pressures, we expect sales to weaken even further in fiscal year 2010 (January) ... We are also concerned by the long-term trend of declining adult readership levels." (Via Publishers Marketplace)