High Yield Report articles from December 2007

High Yield Report archives from December 2007

The Secondary: Storm Before The Calm In The HY Market.
December 3, 2007... Last week's high yield market was a study in volatility and fear. There was not much economic good news, but comments from a Federal Reserve official boosted hope that the government would continue to do what it could to assuage investors'...

Outlook: Spreads Go Wider On Economic Fears, Future Defaults.
December 3, 2007... Spreads on high yield bonds have reached levels not seen for several years, though many market observers see this as an overcorrection considering how low the number of defaults remains. That said, don't expect spreads to tighten anytime soon,...

CDOs: Calyon Launches First CCO Deal In Tough Market.
December 3, 2007... Calyon is arranging its first CDO backed by commodity trigger swaps - or a collateralized commodities obligation (CCO) - set to close by the end of the month. The transaction, Amadeus 2007-1, references 10 commodities, including base metals,...

EDITOR's NOTE: Nothing Tops Vanilla, Except A Few Sprinkles.
December 3, 2007... Remember the simple life? A bank loan was a bank loan and a junk bond was a junk bond. Investment vehicles knew their place in this world, and after a long, hard day of being launched and priced and traded, they'd meander down to the malt shop...

Market Buzz: Credit Suisse Auctions Off Loans For OGF Deal.
December 3, 2007... As banks seek more novel approaches to move hung loans off their books, one of them, Credit Suisse has reportedly made the unique decision to auction off loans used to finance the secondary buyout of a French funeral home operator. French...

The Primary: The Year Winds Down For Primary HY Market.
December 3, 2007... Last week's primary market reflected the volatile mood of the economy as a whole and credit markets in particular. The week began slowly with a solitary issuance being pushed to the end of the week, but a pair of drive-bys appeared Wednesday,...

Editor's Note: Who Might Follow Warren's Lead? Anybody?
December 10, 2007... News that legendary investor Warren Buffett bought up $2.1 billion of the $3.75 billion in high yield bonds priced for Energy Future Holdings Nov. 29 got me to thinking. Even though Warrens move in this instance certainly wasnt philanthropic,...

News: Party Down, Or Just Down On Parties?
December 10, 2007... Holiday parties are being scaled back across Wall Street, and many professionals are feeling a little less merry and more Grinch-like when it comes to celebrating this year. Business has generally been down, there have been massive layoffs...

Market Buzz: Shareholders Fight To Pump Life Into Dead LBOs.
December 10, 2007... Dont look now, but stakeholders in some companies are taking the lead and trying to bring deceased LBOs back from the dead. After getting bruised by broken buyouts, these investors are now trying to get their companies to take lower bids. Take...

The Primary: Staying Alive: HY Market Keeps Pricing.
December 10, 2007... The primary high yield market stayed alive last week, but investors are for the most part biding their time until the economic picture becomes clearer after the holidays. Four issues totaling $1.8 billion were scheduled to price last week,...

The SECONDARY: News Stays Bad, HY Market Worried.
December 10, 2007... Secondary traders remained cautious last week, as the market and the economy at large gave them no reason to take risks. Economic data was negative, and investors remained risk averse as Treasury yields indicated a consistent flight to safety....

Market Watch: $1 Billion Is As Good As It Gets In Credit Markets.
December 10, 2007... In the movie As Good as It Gets, Jack Nicholsons Melvin Udall character must overcome his obsessive compulsive disorder to win the heart of Helen Hunts Carol Connelly. After several hilarious setbacks, Melvin finally pulls through and woos...

Q & A: Insight's Moss Plays Switch Hitter.(Interview)
December 10, 2007... Alexander Moss, high yield fund manager for London-based buy-side firm Insight Investments, is one of the lucky ones. At a time when European high yield investors are keen to put money to work, and there are no new issues to speak of, Mosswho...

Outlook: Lev Finance Says So Long To 2007is Jekyll And Hyde Market.
December 17, 2007... Last December, we began our year in review for 2006 with the tongue-in-cheek, iIt was the best of times, it was the best of times.i This year, however, we wouldnit need to fiddle with that famous line. The unfortunately memorable 2007 has...

The Secondary: A Bit Of Good News Brings Guarded Cheer Cheer.
December 17, 2007... While investors in general were unimpressed by the Federal Reserveis quarter point cut in short-term interest rates last week, their spirits were slightly lifted by the release of some fairly positive economic data. And the high yield market...

Sector Focus: Energy M&A Continues On High Power.
December 17, 2007... The energy sector seems immune from many of the seasonal and recessionary forces that can hamper other sectors, and consistent M&A activity among power utilities has brought a recent surge of high yield investment into the space, despite the...

A New Year Promises Deals In Smaller Packages.
December 17, 2007... We here at High Yield Report coined a phrase in the headline of our last year-end issue to sum up 2006. iMegadealiciousi we called it. And that seemed to suit a year that saw record-breaking deal volume and the advent of the megadeal, with...

Market Buzz: AMG Buys Blue Mountain; Myers Buyout Delayed.
December 17, 2007... Asset management firm Affiliated Managers Group has gobbled up another in a string of boutique money manager buyouts, purchasing a stake in Blue Mountain Capital Management, a credit derivatives firm with $4.8 billion in assets under its belt....

News: After 2007, Euro Market Readies for Slow 2008.
December 17, 2007... The European corporate credit markets have never seen a year like 2007. It was a year in which the markets rose to unprecedented highs, and then, in the blink of an eye, scaled right back to the levels of several years ago, with issuance...

The Market Looks Ahead.
December 17, 2007... i2008 could be the year of the mid-market deal. Itis going to take a while for large caps to recover.i - Randy Schwimmer, head of capital markets, Churchill Financial iIf thereis a general concern I have itis probably the general...