High Yield Report articles from October 2008

High Yield Report archives from October 2008

An Open Letter To Mr. And Ms. American Taxpayer.(Editor's Note)
October 6, 2008... Byline: Carol J. Clouse Over the past couple of weeks, many of you have voiced your understandable anger at the idea of a governmental bailout of America's financial system. Across the country, the chorus rings out: It's not my fault, why...

As Times Change, So Must Credit Markets.
October 6, 2008... Byline: Matthew Sheahan While political leaders haggle over the shape of a potential bailout bill that will include credit market reforms, players in the credit markets have their own wish lists of things they'd like to see change. ...

The Diminishing Leagues Of The League Tables.
October 6, 2008... Byline: Carol J. Clouse Every quarter, for something like the last gazillion years, High Yield Report has presented its readers with the leveraged loan league tables, and we've written about deal volume, changes in rank and trends in the...

Lehman's London-Based Business Cuts 750 Jobs.(Market Buzz)
October 6, 2008... Byline: Editorial Staff Lehman Brothers' London-based business will cut 750 jobs after failing to find a buyer for its European debt and credit unit, according to PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which is administering the bankrupt investment...

Banks Could Issue $1.2B For Oil Co.
October 6, 2008... Byline: Carol J. Clouse A bank consortium could soon package a $1.2 billion credit facility for Precision Drilling, a Canadian oil and gas driller. The debt, which would help fund Precision's buyout of Houston-based oil and gas driller...

HY Market Braces For Further Trouble.(The Secondary)
October 6, 2008... Byline: Matthew Sheahan As economic chaos reigned last week, the high yield market remained quiet and watchful. Investors and traders kept a close watch on political and economic developments from Washington D.C., but maintained that even...

CP Facility Likely Won't Change Much For HY.(News)
October 13, 2008... Byline: Matthew Sheahan In a one-two punch, the Federal Reserve last week launched a special commercial paper buying facility and cut the interest rate to 1.5%. While credit market participants are hopeful that the moves will help restore...

Weary Investors Battle Confusion, Hang On to Hope.(Editor's Note)
October 13, 2008... Byline: Carol J. Clouse "How are you?" I say. "Is that a rhetorical question?" the investor says. And so begins one of the conversations I had with portfolio managers last week. We all know it's bad out there. Really bad. The worst it...

Unwinding Hedge Funds Deepen Trading Woes.(News)
October 13, 2008... Byline: Matthew Sheahan Under normal circumstances, the low prices in the high yield loan and bond secondary markets should create a stampede of eager buyers looking for great deals. Instead, we've seen only more fear and lower prices....

LCP Hammers Out Deal In Bankruptcy Court.(News)
October 13, 2008... Byline: Richard Kellerhals Lehman Commercial Paper, a unit of Lehman Brothers that executes loan and bond trades, last week filed for Chapter 11 and asked for what is called a "first day order," which allows LCP to continue its...

Loan Market Sees TRS Liquidations.(News)
October 13, 2008... Byline: Richard Kellerhals Earlier this year, right around the time Bear Stearns bit the dust, banks including UBS and Wachovia liquidated several market-value CLOs at steep discounts. Many thought that the market had bottomed out. It...

Banks Plan To Issue $1B In Senior Notes For Apria.(Market Buzz)
October 13, 2008... Byline: Editorial Staff Bank of America, Wachovia and Barclays are planning to issue $1 billion in senior secured notes for Lake Forest, Calif.-based Apria Healthcare to help fund the company's buyout by Blackstone Group. It could not be...

HY Secondary Bonds Hit Hard.(The Secondary)
October 13, 2008... Byline: Matthew Sheahan The economic outlook remained negative last week, despite the Federal Reserve and Treasury Departments efforts to restore confidence in the credit markets. And there was little to celebrate on the high yield...

Banks Shift To Restructuring And Recovery.
October 20, 2008... Byline: Matthew Sheahan It may be safe to say that troubled banks view the enactment of the government bailout as Winston Churchill viewed the British victory over Rommel in the battle of El Alamein. "Now this is not the end. It is not...

In The Spirit Of Fairness: Wall Street CEOs Stink.(Editor's Note)
October 20, 2008... Byline: Carol J. Clouse This just might qualify as the toughest column I've ever had to write. I mean, blasting billionaires? This is difficult work. But I have to say, I feel up to the challenge, so here goes... A couple of weeks ago,...

Q&A: S&P's Vazza Discusses Stress In High Yield Debt.
October 20, 2008... Byline: Aleksanders Rozens Standard & Poor's earlier this month announced that its composite of high yield debt spreads hit a five-year high. That news came on the heels of the rating agency warning that U.S. corporate defaults could rise...

S&P: Companies Face Refinancing In Tough Times.(Market Buzz)
October 20, 2008... Byline: Editorial Staff Over the next five quarters, U.S. financial and nonfinancial firms will face $794 billion in debt maturities that will potentially require refinancing, analysts from Standard & Poor's predict. The analysts base...

Investors Turn To Pension Funds To Ease Liquidity Woes.
October 20, 2008... Byline: Carol J. Clouse An increasing number of loan investors have been seeking capital from pension funds to ease their liquidity squeeze. But while some pension funds have made the leap into the loan market, others have had cold feet as...

HY Market At Volatile Economy's Mercy.(The Secondary)
October 20, 2008... Byline: Matthew Sheahan The high yield market is watching the economy and waiting for some stability. The U.S. government's bailout and equity stake plan for U.S. banks holds promise, but few want to invest until the fear of false bottoms...

Phone Co. Revises Refinancing With Hedge Fund Lender.
October 20, 2008... Byline: Richard Kellarhals Vonage has revised the terms of its proposed debt refinancing package with Silver Point Capital, and is scheduled to vote on the transaction next month. The new debt refinancing package contains a $130...

Firms Jump On The Bank Bandwagon.
October 20, 2008... Byline: Steven Sloan What was a move of desperation for Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley could become a strategy for a broad array of institutions hoping to weather the economic turmoil. With liquidity at a premium and confidence in...

Brocade Plans To Crack Frozen HY Bond Market.(News)
October 27, 2008... Byline: Matthew Sheahan When markets are as volatile as they are today, a company that takes a risk and dares to price new bonds deserves an honorary medal. That medal may soon be owed to Brocade Communications Systems, which plans to...

No Rest For The Wicked, And None For You Either.(Editor's Note)
October 27, 2008... Byline: Matthew Sheahan In times of crisis like these, the public demands to be fed contemptible targets to hate and bear the blame. KKR's Henry Kravis, often viewed as a poster child for private equity's largesse, admitted in a speech at...

Goldman Sachs Plans To Cut 10% Of Its Staff.(Market Buzz)
October 27, 2008... Byline: Matthew Sheahan Goldman Sachs plans to cut 10% of its workforce, putting as many as 3,300 people out of work, High Yield Report has confirmed. Goldman was one of two remaining stand-along investment banks, along with Morgan...

Oil Tanker Co. Secures $500M TLB From ING.(News)
October 27, 2008... Byline: Richard Kellerhals New York-based Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG) has secured a $500 million term loan B from a bank consortium to help it finance the acquisition of two supertankers from Euronav NV, a global tanker company. ING...

New Issuers, Buyers Await Return Of Primary.(News)
October 27, 2008... Byline: Matthew Sheahan While recent government action and a responsive credit market offer hope of a thaw, the high yield bond and leveraged loan markets remain in a deep freeze. There are signs of hope, such as new buyers beginning to...

Legal Side Sees Silver Lining In Down Market.(QandA)
October 27, 2008... Byline: Richard Kellerhals Marshall Stoddard, partner, co-chair of Mayer Brown's global finance practice, sees the legal angles of this business. He is a transactional attorney and corporate advisor whose practice primarily focuses on...

High Yield Suffers Another Losing Week.(The Secondary)
October 27, 2008... Byline: Matthew Sheahan (AS OF 10/23/08) - TOP GAINERS - Bond Price Change YieldSpread 10/23/08 10/16/08 10/23/08 10/16/08 10/23/08 Renaissance Sec.Tr (USD) 8.75% 11/17/2009 85.625 70.375 15.25 25.05% 46.79% 2349.67 ...