“The risk of Greece defaulting is low,” he said.

On AAA-rated sovereigns, he said the U.K.’s growing debt is continuing to pressure that country’s credit profile.

“The sovereign most at risk right now is the U.K., in terms of its AAA rating.”

The key to the $2.2bn bond Glencore sold on Wednesday was its convertible structure. Glencore routinely taps the bond markets to finance its capital-intensive and inventory-heavy business. But, until this year, such fundraisings were for straightforward corporate finance purposes.

At the top of the list for consideration right now is Hobbycraft, the crafts retailer which has been put up for sale. There are other businesses on Halfords’ shopping list, too: I’m told, for example, that it had a look at Pets At Home before its recent takeover by the private equity firm KKR.

Funding a takeover would not be difficult for Halfords, which has relatively little debt and is expected to grow its profits significantly this year. Although I’m told there’s no certainty that it will bid for Hobbycraft, Halfords’ chief executive, David Wild, is apparently interested in the fact that it has relatively little direct competition on the high street and has plenty of scope for expansion.

My understanding is that Wild believes there may be considerable savings to be generated from back office costs such as distribution and logistics.

Wild will no doubt be aware of that history when he decides whether or not to get out his chequebook.

This is a hotly debated question after worries about Greece’s debt woes sparked wild swings in the U.S. stock market last week. Signs that the trouble in the Greek bond market was infecting others in Europe helped send the Dow Jones Industrial Average into a spiral Thursday and most of Friday before a late-day rebound turned the market back to positive territory.

The California situation is much more important than Greece,” he says. Greece comprises about 2% of Europe’s gross domestic product, while California—struggling to pay its debts—represents more than 10% of the U.S. economy, he says. “Yet nobody’s talking about California,” he says.

The result, he says, is an even more challenging economic recovery. “Investors are going to increase the cost of capital for over-leveraged entities—governments or corporations, particularly financial institutions that do not get their financial houses in order quickly,” he says.