High Yield Report articles from October 2004

High Yield Report archives from October 2004

CDOs.(collateralized debt obligation)
October 4, 2004... Granted spread tightening has been a factor across numerous asset-backed markets but none have responded with the panache that the collateralized debt obligation (CDO) market has. Three innovations have grown in popularity this year, including...

Europe.(SG Corporate and Investment Bank.)
October 4, 2004... Three years after firing its three-member high yield bond team in London as part of a reorganization of its corporate bond businesses, SG CIB, the corporate and investment banking arm of the Societe Generale Group, is planning to expand its...

US Company News.(Calpine Corp.)
October 4, 2004... Calpine Corp.'s latest deal raised a few eyebrows last week, and received a cool reception in the market last week. Although its not unusual for utility companies to issue large amounts of debt and its no secret that Calpine is targeting $3...

The Word Is.(securities)
October 4, 2004... With the economic recovery proving less robust than anticipated and oil prices remaining high, concerns over inflation are moving ever-further from Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan's mind. The Fed's subsequent less aggressive stance on...

US Company News.(securities)
October 4, 2004... PanAmSat Corporation's $416 million dividend deal last week was not a popular choice among buyers - apparent by the reaction in the secondary market as the zero coupon bonds traded down roughly one and a half points to 58 bid midweek after...

Europe.(Vendex KKB)
October 4, 2004... Last Friday Vendex KKB was due to price a 10-year, non-call four, 275 million equivalent in senior notes due 2014, through Vendex' parent company, Victoria Acquisition III BV. Despite pricing a 200 million, seven-year, non-call four, senior...

Feature.
October 4, 2004... When the year began, Univest Corp., a Souderton, Pa.-based financial services company, was preparing for the good times to end. For the past two years, near-record low interest rates had been a happy fact of life for Univest, as for most...

Market Buzz.(appointments)
October 4, 2004... BNP Paribas has hired Michael Johnson, from CSFB as co-head of European leveraged finance in the UK, as well as Youssef Khlat as head of high yield capital markets. Khlat joins from Deutsche Bank. The hires are part of BNP's plans to bolster it...

Gainers & Losers: AaiPharma/AMR.(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... AaiPharma headed up the gainers' list last week after the market reacted positively to the company's new management. The company's bonds moved up 24%, while its stock rose roughly 20%. The 11% notes of 2010 rose 6.875 points to trade at 61.25....

AMG Data Services.(inflows into high yield mutual funds of $8.9 million for the week ending September 29)(Brief Article)
October 4, 2004... AMG Data Services reported inflows into high yield mutual funds of $8.9 million for the week ending September 29. This is the seventh consecutive week of positive inflows to the asset class and brings the year to date total flows into the...

US Company News.(B&G Foods' deal did not recieve investors attention)
October 11, 2004... Investors didn't appear to have much of an appetite for B&G Foods' deal expected to price last week. The New Jersey-based packaged food company was expected to issue $240 million in seven year, non-call four, senior unsecured notes late last...

Market View.(mutual fund industry forecasts)
October 11, 2004... Investors and other market pros expect smooth sailing ahead for the high yield market as the fourth quarter gets underway. Strong credit conditions, solid earnings, and low default rates in the third quarter have led investors to feel confident...

Europe.(European high yield market overview)
October 11, 2004... For the first five years of its existence, the European high yield market was dominated by large US investment banks looking to build off their established US high yield business model. With the telecom meltdown of 2001 came a shift in the...

The Word Is.(banking industry trends)(Brief Article)
October 11, 2004... For accountants quarter-end means long nights, bent over desks trying to balance P&L accounts. For us, at HYR, it means running and analyzing the quarterly league tables. Ask any high-ranking banker to talk about his bank's performance,...

US Company News.(Jefferies Group and Babson Capital Management announced the launch of a new joint venture called Jefferies Babson Finance)(Brief Article)
October 11, 2004... Jefferies Group and Babson Capital Management announced the launch of a new joint venture last week - called Jefferies Babson Finance. The new business will offer loans to middle market and growth companies with sales in the neighborhood of...

League Tables.(Citigroup took the lead in the third quarter US dollar-denominated league table rankings)
October 11, 2004... Citigroup took the lead in the third quarter US dollar-denominated league table rankings, according to data compiled by Thomson Financial. The firm took over the top spot from Credit Suisse First Boston arranging $15.333 billion in new issuance...

Profile.(Chris Manthey)(BackTrack Reports)
October 11, 2004... As investors turn to riskier ventures to grow their capital, many in search of greater returns are putting their money into hedge funds, the burgeoning industry that might as well be considered mainstream now. And as the loosely regulated hedge...

AMG Data Services.(AMG Data Services reported $255.54 million of inflows into high yield mutual funds )(Brief Article)
October 11, 2004... AMG Data Services reported $255.54 million of inflows into high yield mutual funds for the week ending October 6. This the eighth consecutive week of inflows to the asset class and brings the year-to-date cumulative total to a negative 6.85...

Market Buzz.(banking industry appointments)
October 11, 2004... Deutsche Bank recently named managing directors Michael Raynes and Mark Stainton to head a new team focusing on both primary and secondary CDO products. The new team, which will operate within the credit trading and securitization division,...

Gainers & Losers: Delta/Trump.(Delta Air Lines)(Trump Casino)(Brief Article)
October 11, 2004... Big gainers last week included Delta Air Lines, with many of its bonds trading up roughly 14 points partly on news that United Airlines is cutting back its routes. The 10.14% notes of 2012 moved up 14.625 to trade at 45.75. Air Canada bonds...

US Company News.
October 18, 2004... Driveby deals - deals which are announced and priced within one or two days without a road show - have become a common occurrence in the high yield market, especially since the market is hot and demand is strong. Panamsat, DR Horton, Michael...

Market View.
October 18, 2004... A particularly noticeable trend in recent months is the apparent lack of trend in the performance of credit tiers. Last year, "you could buy triple-C's, go on vacation, and you won," said one investor; this year has seen so much volatility...

CDO.(collateralized debt obligations )
October 18, 2004... The pro rata pay structure - which allows for the payment of interest and principal to be distributed across each tranche of the capital structure, rather than sequentially in order of seniority - has been popping up in more middle market...

The Word IsHere We Go Round Again.
October 18, 2004... When I first started covering the high yield market in April 2001 there was certainly no shortage of scandal to write about. My first article concerned UK ship builder, Cammell Laird's recent default and almost every week after that there was a...

US Company News.
October 18, 2004... The in-depth assessment of corporate governance at major US companies undertaken by credit rating agencies a little over a year ago has shown that there has been a significant improvement in this area since the post-Enron era. According to...

Conference.
October 18, 2004... The second annual Collateralized Debt Obligation (CDO) Conference sponsored by The Bond Market Association served as the unofficial kickoff to conference season for the securitization markets. The day's platform documented growth in product...

Profile.
October 18, 2004... Rather like a crack squad of crises managers, the team of highly skilled, experienced professionals at Quest Turnaround Advisors, is trained to move into under-performing and financially troubled companies, assess the severity of the situation...

Market Buzz.
October 18, 2004... S&P's Global Speculative-Grade Default Rate Drops To 1.64%... The global corporate speculative-grade bond default rate fell to 1.64% at the end of September 2004 from 1.69% in August, according to Standard & Poor's. This marks the 11th...

Gainers & Losers: Rhodia/Delta.(Brief Article)
October 18, 2004... Big gainers last week included Tri-Union Development whose 12.5% senior secured notes of 2006 rose 19 points to trade at 79.625. The bonds are now backed by 117 million cubic feet of oil and gas, which helped jack up the price and provide...

AMG Data Services.(Brief Article)
October 18, 2004... AMG Data Services reported $42.6 million of inflows into high yield mutual funds for the week ending October 13. This the ninth consecutive week of inflows to the asset class and brings the year-to-date cumulative total to a negative $6.79...

CDOs.(Terwin Money Management wrapped up its third Collateralized Debt Obligations)
October 25, 2004... The Winter Group(TWG) unit Terwin Money Management wrapped up its third CDO last week, an asset-backed transaction that appears to be the hallmark of this two year-old market participant. The firm plans to be a keen participant in the ABS CDO...

US Company News.(restructuring firms are looking forward toward turnaround firms to improve their balance sheets)
October 25, 2004... Restructuring firms have been quite starved for deals over the past two years, with default rates sinking to lows of near 1%, and companies accessing the capital markets, rather than looking toward turnaround firms, to improve their balance...

Distressed Debt.(distressed investors may be back in business sooner rather than later)
October 25, 2004... Distressed investors have been on the sidelines for much of the past two years, but if oil prices continue to rise and new paper remains in short supply, they may be back in business sooner rather than later. To be sure, the macroeconomic...

Credit.(Moody's Corp. decided to gladly disclose nonparticipating issuers' names as a service to the market )
October 25, 2004... In a move that increases transparency and makes known to all the nature of Moody's Investors Service's relationship with certain issuers, the ratings service has announced that it will, from here on out, disclose the names of all issuers who...

Q&A.(Interview)
October 25, 2004... ABN AMRO Asset Management held its first high yield conference in Chicago earlier this month, hosting its Danish high yield clients and prospective clients from the firm's high yield fund in Denmark. All of the attendees, who flew in from...

Market Buzz.(Recent research from Fitch Ratings showed that during the second quarter, a growing number of financial companies reported increases in revenue and decreases in debt year-over-year)
October 25, 2004... Recent research from Fitch Ratings showed that during the second quarter, a growing number of financial companies reported increases in revenue and decreases in debt year-over-year. These credit quality gains continue to dampen the US high...

AMG Data Services.(AMG Data Services reported $898,000 of outflows from high yield mutual funds )(Brief Article)
October 25, 2004... AMG Data Services reported $898,000 of outflows from high yield mutual funds for the week ending October 20. This is the first week of outflows from the asset class in 10 weeks and brings the year-to-date cumulative total to a negative $7.69...

Ratings.(Standard & Poor's ratings of companies)
October 25, 2004... The number of fallen angels year-to-date is far below the tally for the same period a year ago, but the number of potential fallen angels - companies that could fall to below investment grade - has actually increased, according to a recent...

Gainers & Losers: Northwest/Delta.(Northwest Airlines)(Delta Air Lines )(Brief Article)
October 25, 2004... Big gainers last week included Select Medical on news that the company is being taken private in a $2.3 million deal led by one of its original investors. The announcement caused both the company's stocks and bonds to rise sharply. Its 7.5%...

US Company News.(Electricity provider NorthWestern Corp. is tapping the market for a new $250 million credit facility )
October 25, 2004... Electricity provider NorthWestern Corp. is tapping the market via Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank for a new $250 million credit facility as the company nears a scheduled emergence from bankruptcy on Nov. 1. The new credit includes a $125...