Asset Securitization Report articles from May 2005

Asset Securitization Report archives from May 2005

Whispers.(Brightwater Capital Management)(briefs)
May 2, 2005... Jonathan Polansky was named as the new team managing director and head of the ABCP ratings group at Moody's Investors Service, taking over the responsibilities of Claire Robinson, who was recently named the new head of Moody's public finance...

Dubai appetite expanding: UAE RMBS hitting U.S. shores...(Dubai Metals and Commodities Centre)(Emirates National Securitisation Corp.)(United Arab Emirates)(residential mortgage backed securities)
May 2, 2005... The global expansion of securitization markets continues with the first-ever Dubai, United Arab Emirates-originated loan backed offering hitting U.S. investors' desks this month, as well as the recent pricing of a transaction backed by...

HSBC secures Thai government ABS.(HSBC Holdings PLC)(asset backed securities)
May 2, 2005... The government of Thailand has mandated a consortium led by HSBC for its proposed HB24 billion ($626 million) securitization program (see ASR 3/14/05), an official at the bank confirmed last week. HSBC will work with the Government Housing...

New guidelines for private information.(credit derivatives)
May 2, 2005... A set of guidelines on the handling of non-public price sensitive information, set to be published in mid-May, warns European banks against the misuse of private information when trading instruments, such as credit default swaps, could lead to...

Metris to opine on corporate rebirth.
May 2, 2005... Credit card issuer The Metris Companies will give a presentation for the Turnaround Management Association, an organization that studies corporate turnarounds, representing Metris' successful climb back from the edge of the financial abyss. ...

Slow U.S. ABS primary prices $10.4 billion as HELs dominate.(home equity loans)
May 2, 2005... Home equity deals dominated a sluggish U.S. primary market that priced $10.4 billion last week. Three credit card deals and one auto deal also found their way to the fore while other sectors, such as student loans, equipment and auto leases,...

Researchers rap on Cap One, Discover, Fleet and G.E.(Discover Bank)(GE Capital)(Capital One Financial)
May 2, 2005... Two prominent ABS research teams tackled the credit card sector last week as Lehman Brothers touted Discover Bank's ABS as a refuge of value after its spreads widened on reports of a corporate spinoff, and Morgan Stanley dissected various...

Bankruptcy filings see record high in March, CCABS to remain stable.(credit card asset backed securities)
May 2, 2005... Personal bankruptcy filings in the U.S. totaled a whopping 165,459 in March, reportedly the largest number on record, but so far credit card ABS performance trends have remained stable and are expected to stay that way, according to Fitch...

ABCP increase expected.(asset-backed commercial paper)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... NEW YORK - Although Basel II and U.S. regulatory changes continue to have an impact on the conduit market, growth in asset-backed commercial paper issuance is expected to continue, said Deborah Seife, managing director at Fitch Ratings at a...

PIMCO CDO scale back raises concern.(Pacific Investment Management Co.)(collateralized debt obligations)
May 2, 2005... Pacific Investment Management Co. is scaling back its investment in structured finance CDOs this year due to performance concerns. The move could be the "catalyst for concern in the entire market," said Steven Finnk, an analyst at United...

Are CDOs set to widen?(collateralized debt obligations)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... CDOs stand as "about the only market with spreads at or near all-time tights," according to a JPMorgan Securities report. "This performance cannot continue indefinitely," analysts wrote. Spreads on new-issue CDOs priced in April didn't...

Rating Changes in the U.S. Asset-Backed Securities Market: 2005 First Quarter Update.
May 2, 2005... Zoe (Jinyang) Wang, analyst; Julia Tung, vice president and senior analyst, Moody's Investors Service There were 261 rating changes between January 1, 2005 and March 31, 2005, affecting roughly $9.0 billion in securities issued. Overall...

MBS spreads hold in narrow range in moderate two-way flows.(mortgage backed securities)
May 2, 2005... Mortgages saw moderate two-way flows last week by a wide range of investors - though fast money was the most dominant player - that kept spreads in a narrow range. At the same time, supply remains at near the $1 billion per session area, and is...

Supply and demand in MBS as GSEs go opposite ways.(Government Sponsored Enterprises)(mortgage backed securities)
May 2, 2005... With Freddie Mac significantly growing its forward commitments in March, MBS players have been granted some comfort, although analysts said the efforts would mean little if the agency's recent investment patterns continue. Furthermore, Fannie...

Freddie increases portfolio disclosure.(Freddie Mac)
May 2, 2005... Freddie Mac recently began reporting more detailed retained portfolio growth disclosure, including information regarding holdings of Freddie PCs, other agency securities (FNMA and GNMA), non-agency securities and raw loans. Before this, the GSE...

S&P quarterly CMBS survey reports decline in delinquency rate.(Standard & Poor Corp.)(commercial mortgage backed securities)
May 2, 2005... A recent Standard & Poor's quarterly survey reported that the domestic CMBS delinquency rate in 1Q05 fell to 1.04%, decreasing from 1.18% at year-end 2004, and from its 1.96% peak at the end of 2003. While the decline is partially attributed to...

Fannie's incredible shrinking portfolio.(Fannie Mae)
May 2, 2005... Last Thursday Fannie Mae announced that its gross mortgage portfolio shrank for the fifth consecutive month to its lowest level since July 2003. The GSE's investment portfolio fell by a 13.6% annualized rate in March, after dropping 19.1% in...

Market spreads flatten, ease a moment on tightening trend.
May 2, 2005... Investors looking for some relief to the tightening bias that has taken hold on European pricing found a bit of comfort in the slight widening seen on secondary spreads seen last week, as market sources reported that bids on triple-A paper...

Taiwan preps real estate ABS, CLOs.(collateralized loan obligations)(asset backed securities)
May 2, 2005... Activity in Taiwan could soon start picking up after a slow start to 2005, according to sources in Taipei. Cathay Financial - the country's biggest financial services group with interests in banking, real estate and insurance - is mulling its...

China sets ABS guidelines.(asset backed securities)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... As further evidence of the state's commitment to developing securitization in the People's Republic of China, the state bank, People's Bank of China, last week published new ABS guidelines on its Website. Heads of Asian ABS at foreign...

Whispers.(Appointments)
May 9, 2005... Standard & Poor's announced the appointment of Susan Barnes as Practice Leader and head of the Standard & Poor's residential mortgage structured finance group in North America, with responsibility for managing all of S&P's U.S. RMBS activities....

GM, Ford downgrades come sooner than expected; ABS secondary quiet: From the Junk In The Trunk dept...(General Motors Corp.)(Ford Motor Co.)(asset backed securities)
May 9, 2005... Standard & Poor's rocked the bond markets last week with its simultaneous downgrades of the corporate debt ratings of both General Motors and Ford Motor Co. into speculative grade territory, and while the move was widely expected, sources say...

Philippines plans ABS...Again.(asset backed securities)
May 9, 2005... The prospects for securitization in the Philippines effectively died when the Asian Financial Crisis hit in 1997 - in fact, there have no cross-border offerings issued from the country since that year, when JPMorgan Securities put together a...

New 30y T-Bond impact on MBS.(treasury bonds)(mortgage backed securities)
May 9, 2005... The U.S. Treasury's announcement last week that it is thinking about restarting regular 30-year bond auctions - which came as a surprise after the Treasury announced earlier this year that it did not plan on reintroducing these bonds - is not...

Bear to release new subprime MBS performance model.(mortgage backed security)(Bear Stearns Companies Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... Bear Stearns plans to release an updated subprime performance model to its trading desk and the public by month's end, said Steven Bergantino, a managing director involved with updating the model. Basic changes to the model include the...

Structured finance committee to hold first meeting.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... The Structured Finance Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York will hold its inaugural meeting next month, sources confirmed. The 32-member committee will meet on Wednesday, June 1, at the bar association's midtown...

ABS CDOs see record downgrades to upgrade ratio in 1Q05.(collateralized debt obligations)(asset backed securities)
May 9, 2005... U.S. cashflow and synthetic CDOs experienced an uptick in downgrades and fewer upgrades during the first quarter compared to 4Q04, according to a recent report by Standard & Poor's. Driving downgrades were ABS CDOs, which experienced the...

U.S. ABS primary snoozes to $2 billion week.(asset backed securities)
May 9, 2005... The U.S. ABS primary market priced just $2 billion last week as an interest rate hike, a surprising Treasury announcement, high-profile corporate downgrades and pending employment numbers and conspired to keep things quiet. On Tuesday the...

New holding company expands into CDO world.(Clayton Holdings Inc.)(collateralized debt obligations)
May 9, 2005... Now that financial services company Clayton Services, Inc. and credit risk management firm The Murrayhill Co. have merged to form Clayton Holdings, Inc., the combined entity will look to make a push into the CDO sector, according to its new...

Clarification:.(Correction Notice)
May 9, 2005... Long Beach Acceptance Corp. would like to note that in a story titled "Morgan Stanley stacks up major auto issuer, individual deal performance," Morgan Stanley researchers used incorrect data in their assessment, mistakenly reporting...

Fitch chops up ABS regulatory, legislative developments.(Fitch Ratings)(asset backed securities)
May 9, 2005... Analysts with Fitch Ratings took a broad look at the regulatory and legislative environment surrounding the ABS market and deemed it generally non threatening for the time being. On a conference call held last week, the analysts opined on...

CDO investors debate morality of spread environment.
May 9, 2005... Spreads on structured finance CDOs tightened another two basis points last week, to 30 basis points on triple-A rated notes, landing at historically tight levels - 10 basis points tighter than six months ago, and 20 basis points tighter from a...

Terwin priced high resi concentration CDO.(Terwin Money Management LLC)(collateralized debt obligations)
May 9, 2005... Terwin Money Management LLC expects to close its first ABS CDO of the year - Northwall Funding CDO 1 Ltd. this month. The $300 million deal will be the fourth ABS CDO for San Francisco-based Terwin, all of which have been underwritten by...

Morgan Stanley exposes value of post-NIMs.(Net Interest Margin)
May 9, 2005... Researchers from Morgan Stanley delved deep into the obscure realm of post-NIM securities, last week. Post-NIMs, or "baby equity," offer an attractive alternative to mortgage derivatives for ABS and MBS investors seeking yield, claims the firm....

Competition forces trustee world changes.
May 9, 2005... Three years ago, fraudulent behavior related to a few deals in the structured finance market turned a spotlight on the role of the trustee, and the obscure world of deal document management has never been the same since. "We had to go out and...

GSE reps speak out on "red flags".(Government Sponsored Enterprise)
May 9, 2005... San francisco - In the midst of a changing housing market and headline risk, the GSEs have had to continually redefine, defend and reassess their roles under intense public scrutiny. At the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Secondary...

GSE legislation on the podium at MBA conference.(Mortgage Bankers Association)(Government Sponsored Enterprise)
May 9, 2005... San francisco - GSE regulation is a hot topic at this year's National Secondary Market Conference and Expo 2005 hosted here last week by the Mortgage Banker's Association, as representatives from both the GSEs and Senate debated the pros and...

Analysts hedging in volatile times at the MBA Secondary.(Mortgage Bankers Association)
May 9, 2005... SAN FRANCISCO - With the mortgage market experiencing volatility right now, hedging strategies become important in portfolio management. At the Mortgage Bankers Association Secondary Market Conference 2005 held here last week, participants at...

New mortgages sign of evolving consumer base.
May 9, 2005... San francisco - At the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Secondary Market Conference 2005 held here last week, conference participants focused on the influx of new products as well as the changing mortgage market dynamics. Although the...

Up in coupon, 15s favored as curve steepens.
May 9, 2005... It wasn't the Federal Open Market Committee that shook up the markets last week, but the surprising announcement from the Treasury about the 30-year bond's potential return. Treasury prices fell and the curve steepened on the news. The curve...

Spreads offer investors some respite from tightening bias.
May 9, 2005... Primary supply continued to build last week, contributing to the growing discord between primary and secondary market trading, with market trades continuing to be affected by the corporate spread widening. Pricing on the primary side continues...

Pub ABS deals hold steadfast, despite uncertainty in sector.(asset backed securities)
May 9, 2005... Standard & Poor's last week affirmed the ratings of Pubmaster Finance Ltd and Punch Taverns Finance Plc, following the release of interim results by the Punch Group at the end of April, which indicated that while a slowdown in consumer spending...

U.K. housing repossessions on the rise.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... The British Banker's Association reported that U.K. mortgage lending was down 30% in March, to GBP13.7 billion ($26.08 billion), versus numbers recorded at the same time last year. Despite the dramatic fall in lending, market sources remain...

Whispers.
May 16, 2005... Deutsche Bank Securities hired Hyung Myung Peak from RBS Greenwich Capital as a managing director and head of private-label CMO trading and Adam Yarnold from UBS as a director and head of ARM trading. Both new hires report to Managing Director...

UCM prices aircraft repack... more are on the way.(United Capital Markets)(repackage deal)
May 16, 2005... United Capital Markets priced the first aircraft lease repackage deal of the year last week, according to sources. There are potentially more restructurings on the way, as well as up to three new-issue pooled aircraft lease transactions -...

ABS market reacts to Ford, GM news.(Ford Motor Co.)(General Motors Corp.)(asset backed securities)
May 16, 2005... On the heels of Moody's Investors Service following suit last week and downgrading the corporate unsecured ratings of Ford Motor Co. and Ford Motor Credit, the auto ABS sector is primed and ready to receive the tidal wave of issuance expected...

Construction loans to be securitized?
May 16, 2005... For lenders looking for the next holy grail in the CMBS market, JPMorgan Securities' CMBS group has one suggestion: construction loans. While attempts have been made in the past to securitize these entities, the firm says the timing is right...

Moody's to add pluses, minuses to servicer grades.(Moody's Investors Service)(Brief Article)
May 16, 2005... Moody's Investors Service will begin adding plus and minus gradients to its servicer ratings, the New York-based rating agency announced May 10. The change will take effect only on new ratings. The move will align Moody's with Fitch...

MBNA slapped with investor class-action suit.(MBNA America Bank N.A.)(Brief Article)
May 16, 2005... The parent of credit card issuer MBNA America Bank and no less than eight officers and directors of the company were hit with three separate shareholder class action lawsuits last week. Law firms Milberg Weiss Bershad & Shulman of New York,...

ASF to aid industry on Reg AB implementation.(American Securitization Forum )
May 16, 2005... The American Securitization Forum hopes to help issuers get up to speed on the implementation of the Securities & Exchange Commission's Regulation AB, the first rule tailored specifically for the ABS market, according to Michael Mitchell,...

U.S. ABS primary heats up with nearly $20 billion week.(asset backed securities)
May 16, 2005... The New York Yankees were not the only ones on a roll last week. The U.S. ABS primary market also had a stellar week, pricing nearly $20 billion in new issue supply. As the flailing Bombers rebounded to a five-game winning streak, the primary...

Lehman leads NIM deal backed by small business loans.(Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.)(net interest margin)
May 16, 2005... Representing a departure from the norm for the net interest margin sector, Lehman Brothers has begun marketing a NIM backed by loans to small businesses. While synonymous with the home equity sector, small business loans offer more reliable...

Fannie unloads $7 bln in subprime MBS.(Fannie Mae)(mortgage backed securities)
May 16, 2005... Likely a part of Fannie Mae's effort to meet capital requirements, the government sponsored entity unloaded a slew of asset-backed securities from its books last week through $9 billion total in private placement re-REMIC deals reportedly...

CDO market reacts to GM, Ford downgrades.(collateralized debt obligations)(General Motors Corp.)(Ford Motor Co.)
May 16, 2005... Synthetic and investment grade cash CDOs referenced to corporate names may have taken a slight hit this week, while structured finance CDOs remained stable as investors reacted to the corporate credit downgrades to junk status for Ford Motor...

UBS: Look for yield in low places in CDO structure.(collateralized debt obligations)(Union Bank of Switzerland)
May 16, 2005... Even though spreads for CDOs backed by structured finance and high yield loan collateral continue cranking tighter, the return is "more than fair" in the triple-B rated tranches of those deals, where tightening has not kept pace with...

The synthetic CDO shell game.(collateralized debt obligations)
May 16, 2005... Over the past year or so, nothing has grown faster than demand for synthetic collateralized debt obligations. In the past several weeks, a drumbeat of warnings has emanated from the likes of the International Monetary Fund, Standard & Poor's,...

MBS hit by heavy selling on flight to quality bid.(mortgage backed securities)
May 16, 2005... Last week was another interesting one in mortgages. Initial focus was on the FNMA 5 roll. The drop rose to 10.25 at one point on Monday from about 7.5 the week before last. On Monday and into early Tuesday, flows were focused primarily on FNMA...

Minimum servicing fees cannot be applied across the board, analysts said.
May 16, 2005... At the recent Mortgage Bankers Association National Secondary Conference & Expo 2005 held in San Francisco, one of the hot topics was the right level for minimum GSE servicing fees. Although no GSE representatives were present - as neither...

FHLBanks - to securitize or not to securitize.(Federal Home Loan Banks)
May 16, 2005... With discussions up in Congress for a combined new regulator for the Federal Home Loan Banks as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, one issue that has also been deliberated is the possibility of FHLBanks using securitization for risk...

GM and Ford fallout: Where the European deals stand.(General Motors Corp.)(Ford Motor Co.)
May 16, 2005... The General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. fallout put corporate market volatility in the spotlight last week, softening spreads further on the European front but analysts at least had some good news with regards to deals tied to the two...

GMAC-RFC marches on, launches new home loan deal.(GMAC Residential Funding Corp.)
May 16, 2005... GMAC-RFC began marketing a new German backed true-sale mortgage securitization in the ashes of its parent, General Motors Corp.'s blow-out. GMAC-RFC plans to sell between 250 million and 300 million ($320.9 million to $385.1 million) of German...

Greek RMBS volumes tick off another 750 million.(residential mortgage backed securities)(Estia Mortgage Finance)
May 16, 2005... Piraeaus Bank, the third-largest private banking group in Greece, began marketing a 750 million ($965.9 million) Greek RMBS last week via joint lead managers Citigroup Global Markets and UBS. Dubbed Estia Mortgage Finance, the transaction...

Euro corporate spreads adding pressure on ABS.
May 16, 2005... Though corporate woes continue to pressure spreads wider, it's done little to contract the primary issuance pipeline, dealers seem determined stay on the radar - approximately 15 billion ($19.3 billion) of new issuance was actively marketing...

A-REIT secures tight pricing for 2nd CMBS.(Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust)(Brief Article)
May 16, 2005... Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust, established in 2002 by Ascendas MGM Funds, priced last Tuesday its second cross-border CMBS offering. The Singaporean REIT issued 165 million ($211.3 million) of 7.5-year paper via lead manager BNP...

Auto ABS seen out of Malaysia.(asset backed securities)(Brief Article)
May 16, 2005... Continued activity is looming from Malaysia, with hire purchase receivables and plantation assets among the cashflows to be securitized. First out of the blocks will be motor vehicle distributor Tan Chong Motor Holdings with a M$164 million...

Islamic ABS planned for Rimbunan Hijau.(asset backed securities)(Chinese Banking Corp.)(Brief Article)
May 16, 2005... Overseas Chinese Banking Corp. is putting together a M$143 million Islamic ABS for Rimbunan Hijau, a conglomerate with interests in logging, plantations and shipping. The company is following the trend set by domestic competitors...

LaSalle pushes back into Japan real estate.(LaSalle Investment Management Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 16, 2005... Reports from Japan suggest U.S. real estate giant LaSalle Investment Management is joining forces with Tokyo Tatemono, whose core business is in real estate sales and leasing, to set up a special purpose vehicle to fund property acquisitions....

Whispers.
May 23, 2005... Ambac Senior Managing Director Douglas Renfield-Miller has been named chairman of Ambac Assurance U.K. Ltd., where he will oversee Ambac's European operations encompassing both the London office and the Milan branch. Renfield-Miller will also...

Inaugural Textron floorplan deal meets with cool demand.
May 23, 2005... Textron Financial Corp. returned to the ABS market last week for the first time in three and a half years to a cool reception as its scheduled $1 billion private dealer floorplan deal was downsized to $750 million and saw its spreads widened at...

XLCA wraps first hospital PFI.(XL Capital Assurance (UK) Limited)(private finance initiative)
May 23, 2005... XLCA-U.K. swam deeper into U.K. PFI waters last week, wrapping its first hospital deal - the GBP313 million ($574 million) Newcastle Hospital PFI. Sources at the company said that XLCA-U.K. will maintain its focus on the U.K. PFI market while...

Crown Castle uses ABS to pay junk debt.(asset backed securities)
May 23, 2005... Crown Castle International is prepping a $1.9 billion private placement backed by cellular tower lease receivables via Morgan Stanley, the proceeds for which will be used to fund a tender offer for $1.4 billion in outstanding high-yield debt,...

Capital One brings first unwrapped nonprime auto deal.(Capital One Financial Corp.)(Brief Article)
May 23, 2005... Capital One Financial is poised to offer its first-ever nonprime auto deal without a wrap this week, a Capital One official said. The deal was on a roadshow, to investors last week and is scheduled to be announced formally this week, sources...

Citigroup launches credit card ABS index: Numbers indicate strong performance...(asset backed securities)(Brief Article)
May 23, 2005... Citigroup Global Markets has developed a credit card ABS index that compares deal data from 13 of the most prominent issuers in the sector such as American Express, Bank of America, Capital One Financial, Citibank, Discover, JPMorgan Chase,...

U.S. ABS Primary spawns $12 billion.(asset backed securities)
May 23, 2005... The U.S. ABS primary market priced $12 billion in new issues having priced as of press time Thursday and more were seen pricing in Friday's session, as mixed feedback from various economic indicators pushed the market along to a solid, but by...

CDO machine? Managers, mortgage companies, happy to keep fuel coming.(collateralized debt obligations)
May 23, 2005... NEW YORK - In a panel on the effect of CDOs on the fixed-income market, Bear Stearns traders said mortgage issuers and CDO managers are playing off one another. While one group provides the fuel - borrowers induced by new mortgage products to...

Bad days at Ford and GM create new opportunities for investors.(Ford Motor Co.)(General Motors Corp.)
May 23, 2005... NEW YORK - Investors, emphasizing the separation between credit and structured finance markets, reiterated that the Ford Motor Credit Co. and General Motors Co. corporate credit downgrades are a non-issue in the cash CDO market. In fact, some...

DBSI debates California exposure.(Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.)
May 23, 2005... NEW YORK - With home prices skyrocketing, Deutsche Bank Securities analysts warned that there is more of a downside risk in this cycle than at any other time in recent history at the investor gathering held here last week. Specifically,...

Student loan issuers forecast supply.(Brief Article)
May 23, 2005... NEW YORK - With the demand and price of higher education climbing skyward, student loan ABS is expected to be the next hot growth sector, noted a panel of representatives from the three largest student loan issuers - Sallie Mae, Nelnet and...

Spread volatility in U.S. rivals Europe's steady pace.
May 23, 2005... NEW YORK - The average secondary spread on institutional cashflow loans is much more volatile in the U.S. than in Europe, with U.S. rates swinging by as much as 150 basis points in a quarter, compared with European spreads that have barely...

Bank demand in MBS remains uncertain.(mortgage backed securities)
May 23, 2005... With the continued easing of lending standards and terms for C&I loans - according to a recent Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices released by the Federal Reserve - the issue of MBS bank demand arises again. In...

Strong buying in FNMA 5s following release of May Mega report.(Federal National Mortgage Association)
May 23, 2005... Last week got off to a slow start as investors remained nervous about the credit markets, but it ended on Wednesday with the favorable core CPI news, the Fannie Mae Mega report for May, and an improved tone in credit derivatives. Treasurys...

Countrywide highlights potential for increased issuance in FNMA 5s.(Countrywide Securities)(Federal National Mortgage Association)
May 23, 2005... In a report released last week, Countrywide Securities discussed the potential for increased originator issuance in 5s. Analysts noted that in April, 30-year 5% coupon production surged, and was "noteworthy in its absolute size and the large...

Underwriting standards for C&I loans ease.(commercial and industrial)
May 23, 2005... The Federal Reserve recently released its quarterly Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices. Results show that there was some easing on lending standards and terms for C&I loans to large and middle market firms. Regarding...

Europe witnesses another tough week, but Northern Rock's Granite bucks mood.
May 23, 2005... It's been another tough week for the European market, as trades remained weak on the bid side, and new issuance continued flooding into the primary market. Still, Northern Rock's Granite 2005-2 transaction elicited a surprisingly strong...