High Yield Report articles from January 2002

High Yield Report archives from January 2002

2002: The Year to Overweight High Yield, or Another Dud?
January 7, 2002... High yield investors and analysts are looking forward to a good year for their asset class in 2002. New buyers and the return of more dedicated cash will underpin a market many already are expecting to produce double-digit returns. Annual...

Investors Moving Back Into LatAm.
January 7, 2002... If 2001 was the year global investors moved money out of Latin America into Eastern Europe, 2002 could well be the year they shift it all back into the region. While analysts say Eastern Europe will continue to outperform all emerging...

At The Movies: Theaters a Hit in 2002.
January 7, 2002... Bankruptcy filings from Carmike Cinemas, Lowes Cineplex and Regal Cinemas put a world of hurt on the movie theater sector the past few years, but analysts and investors are expecting a roller-coaster thrill ride for the industry in 2002 that...

CSFB, Citigroup/SSB, Goldman Top 2001 Rankings.
January 7, 2002... Two thousand and one was a tough year for the US economy, but according to Thomson Financial, Wall Street nevertheless reached new heights as a corporate borrowing spree, aided by low interest rates, pushed underwriting activity to record...

Early Buying Drives US Prices.
January 7, 2002... Traders working the US secondary market last week said there was plenty of customer buying across the board, without focus on any particular sector. "Everything's up across the board just on customer buying," one trader said. Market...

LoanX Set to Launch This Quarter.
January 7, 2002... Banks and investors haven't exactly embraced new business ventures in the past year, but that's not discouraging Michael Rushmore from going about his business. The CEO and co-founder of LoanX, an online trading platform for syndicated loans,...

Wireless Expected to Outperform in 2002.
January 7, 2002... Analysts say defaults are near a peak, and that should bring more risk-takers back into the high yield bond market. For the wireless sector, which suffered - some say unjustifiably - from problems with the telecom sector, that's good news. ...

Out Of The Ashes: 2002 Will Be A Good Year for European HY.
January 14, 2002... It's moving into its sixth year of existence, and by most accounts, 2002 should be a good year for the European high yield market. Market participants are most optimistic about new issuance - and with good reason. Indeed, as the market has...

Fallen Angels: A Good Bet or Not?
January 14, 2002... The number of fallen angels, credits that fell to junk level from investment grade last year, has topped out at a whopping 55, according to Moody's Investors Service. It's virtually impossible for high yield investors to ignore them, but making...

Institutions Go For Undrawn Revolvers.
January 14, 2002... Return-oriented institutional investors in the loan market have never had much interest in more tightly priced undrawn loans like letters of credit or revolvers. But agent banks, faced with an increasingly smaller pro rata market and eager to...

Six Deals For US, Europe Waits for Xerox.
January 14, 2002... After a quiet start to the year, the US primary market was ready to go last week. Six deals were expected to price, with two pricing by press time. In Europe, Xerox took center stage. US Paxon's Zero Coupon Proves A Good Sell...

Healthy Trading Supports Markets.
January 14, 2002... Activity in the US secondary market, although moderate was still quite healthy last week, traders said. Participants focused mostly on new deals. "I have a dozen prospectuses on my desk to look at, which is good," said one buysider. ...

Deflation and the US Economy: Are we There Yet?
January 14, 2002... "Let me assert my firm belief," then president Franklin Roosevelt said in his first inaugural address to a nation devastated by the Great Depression, "that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." At that time, some 20% of Americans...

NTL's Future Hangs in the Balance: Is Restructuring Inevitable?
January 21, 2002... UK cable company NTL is in a fix. The colossal amount of debt on its balance sheet - a whopping $17 billion - has reached unsustainable levels, and big interest payments are draining its cash and bank credit lines. Analysts say the...

Kmart Tests JPM, Lee's Muster - Again.
January 21, 2002... JP Morgan Chase's vice chairman James B. Lee must be wondering whether he's caught in a time warp. Kmart Corp. is going down the tubes, losing the battle against arch-rivals Wal-mart and Target, and teetering towards bankruptcy. There's...

Kaiser Goes Back on its Word.
January 21, 2002... Despite all its assurances to bondholders that it would make principal payments due Feb. 15 on $174 million of its 9.875% senior notes, it looks like Kaiser Aluminum Corp. will have to go back on its word. The company said last week that it...

Xerox is a Hit in Europe; US Pipeline Full.
January 21, 2002... The US primary market expected to see upward of a hefty $3 billion in high yield sales last week. Six deals priced by press time and the forward calendar is ripe with more. The European primary market also got off to a solid start last...

US Focuses on Kmart.
January 21, 2002... The US secondary market was active last week and most eyes were focused on distressed credits, especially on Kmart Corp. (see story, p. 1), traders said. Kmart rallied five points early in the week but gave up over half the gains in the...

The Balancing Act: BofA Focuses on Getting it Right.
January 21, 2002... The tricky business of getting issuers financing at terms they want and investors assets at returns they like won't get any easier in 2002. But Bank of America says that this year it will focus more than ever on getting the balancing act right...

Consolidation, Restructuring On the Cards for Tower Sector.
January 28, 2002... The tower sector, the one business that's been immune to the downfall of telecom, is starting to have problems of its own. "There is increasing evidence that wireless growth is slowing, with Cingular, Verizon and Sprint PCS reporting lower-...

Banks Look For Ways to Avoid DIPs.
January 28, 2002... Rating agency Fitch is predicting that the default rate, based on volume and excluding fallen angels, will drop from 9.7% in 2001 to 6% in 2002. Should that prove to be the case, Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings, which were up about 6.5% last year...

Fund Manager Challenges Index Trackers.
January 28, 2002... Managing emerging market funds against benchmark indices is for chumps, or at least that's what Michael Mabbutt believes. The fund manager at Thames River Capital (TRC), a UK-based company that invests in emerging markets assets, says that...

Finally Some New Issuance Out of Europe; US Pace Slows.
January 28, 2002... The US primary market slowed down significantly from a week earlier with only one deal pricing and two more expected to price last week. Things are heating up in Europe, though: Three companies are preparing to go on the road with their...

Kmart to Blame for Retail Slump.
January 28, 2002... The US secondary market continued on an active track last week. Trading continued to be volatile, largely because of continued backlash from the Kmart bankruptcy. Kmart's demise has put serious pressure on retail bonds, traders said....

A Fresh Start for Kmart With New DIP?
January 28, 2002... It might have filed Chapter 11, but Kmart Corp. isn't going down just yet. Far from it, in fact, if initial reaction from the lender community to a $2 billion debtor-in-possession (DIP) loan for the company is any indication. JP...