Robert Cookson
CDS report: “The size of the trades suggests it’s not speculation”
The cost of protecting European corporate debt jumped sharply higher on Friday as the market again buzzed with talk that structured products were being unwound.
People in the market said a bank had bought large amounts of protection in late morning,
CDS report: Market rallies on profit-taking
The cost of protecting European corporate debt against default fell on Thursday, but analysts said the rally was driven by short-sellers taking profits rather than a shift in sentiment.
The iTraxx Europe,
CDS update: Why are spreads so high?
With credit derivatives indices shooting past key levels and showing few signs of stopping — the iTraxx Crossover is trading at at 542bp and the iTraxx Europe is at 101bp — many investors have been scratching their heads about the drivers.
CDS report: spreads soar on vicious circle fears
European credit derivatives indices surged deeper into uncharted territory on Monday as credit markets squirmed at the possibility of a wave of structured product liquidations.
The iTraxx Crossover index,
CDS report: Market ablaze with CDO liquidation talk
While equity markets were calm on Monday, fear in credit markets drove the iTraxx Crossover to an all-time high of 550 basis points.
The buzz was that a bank – or banks – was buying unusually large amounts of protection against corporate default,
CDS report: Crossover tightens despite monoline woes
The cost of protecting European corporate debt against default fell on Friday, in spite of further negative rating action on the troubled monoline insurers.
Late on Thursday Standard & Poor’s cut FGIC from AAA to AA and placed fellow bond insurers MBIA and XLCA on negative rating watch.
CDS report: Markets wince at further monoline skeletons
The cost of protecting European corporate debt against default surged on Thursday after bond insurer FGIC lost its triple-A rating and Standard & Poor’s cut or put on review ratings on $534 billion of mortgage-related debt.
CDS report: All eyes on the days ahead
The cost of insuring European corporate debt against default fell on Tuesday, ahead of a string of data on the health of the US economy in coming days.
Trade was extremely light as people in credit derivatives markets braced for the Fed’s rate decision on Wednesday,
CDS report: “This is not over. It would be lovely to think it was, but it isn’t”
The cost of protecting European corporate debt against default fell on Friday, as dealers mulled over the likelihood that a bail-out of the monolines would succeed.
A mood of cautious relief washed over credit derivatives markets,
CDS report: indices tighten but outlook remains bleak
The cost of protecting European corporate debt against default fell on Wednesday, as traders paused for breath after the previous days’ violent swings.
But analysts said the previous day’s emergency rate cut by the Fed had failed to shake the entrenched pessimism from the credit derivatives market.
CDS report: Crossover hits 530bp as fears intensify
The iTraxx Crossover index surged to a record high of 530 basis points on Tuesday, signalling the extent of the trauma being felt in credit markets.
The Crossover measures the cost of protecting the debt of 50 mostly junk-rated European companies against default and is a benchmark of sentiment in the credit derivatives market.
CDS report: “What we saw in July was just a precursor – it could get much worse.”
Credit derivatives markets jolted sharply wider on Monday, in their blackest mood since the height of last summer’s subprime panic.
The issue rocking the market was the fate of the monoline bond insurers — and thus the $2,400 billion of debt they guarantee.
CDS report: Crossover surges on monoline fears
The cost of protecting European corporate debt against default shot sharply higher on Thursday, ignoring a rally in global equity markets.
Bears sank their teeth into a quadruple-whammy of bad news from the monoline bond insurance sector.
CDS report: Citi’s results provide relief to nervy market
The cost of protecting European corporate debt against default fell on Tuesday after Citigroup’s earnings results came in better than the market had feared.
The bank posted its first quarterly loss since its creation in 1998,
CDS report: Bernanke gloom blows spreads wider
The mood in European credit derivatives markets remained dark on Friday, with an unexpectedly gloomy statement from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke intensifying fears of a US recession.
Bernanke’s emphasis on the risks to the US economy on Thursday overshadowed his indications that he was poised to cut rates aggressively.
CDS report: Spreads drift tighter despite sour mood
The cost of insuring European corporate debt against default fell on Tuesday, tracking rising European stocks in thin trade.
But the mood in the market remained very nervous, with the fear of a US recession weighing heavily on sentiment.
CDS report: Crossover threatens to breach 400 mark
The iTraxx Crossover list of mostly junk-rated companies hovered within striking distance of the psychologically important 400 basis point level on Tuesday, as fall-out from the credit squeeze continued to roil European credit default swaps markets.
CDS report: Swiss Re hit by exposure to housing market
Swiss Re was the focus of attention in the European credit derivatives market on Monday, after the world’s biggest reinsurer said it took a SFr1.2bn ($1.01bn, €733m) writedown on losses from credit default swaps with exposure to US mortgages.
CDS report: Recession fears drive Crossover to series high
Worries that a housing slump could tip the US economy into recession drove major European credit derivatives indices to new highs on Friday morning.
The cost of protecting European corporate debt against default surged in the credit default swap market,
CDS report: Barclays fails to stem bearish mood
News of lower-than-expected writedowns at Barclays failed to quell fears of further pain in the banking sector on Thursday, with European credit derivatives markets remaining on the defensive.
Barclays announced a writedown of £1.3bn on its exposure to the US subprime mortgage market — much lower than traders had feared.
CDS report: Goldman and HSBC soothe frayed nerves
European credit derivatives markets rallied sharply on Wednesday, tracking a strong session in US equity and credit markets overnight.
Goldman Sachs stoked confidence among traders of credit default swaps when it said it expected no significant writedowns related to the US subprime mortgage market.
CDS report: The brave trade is to back the banks
Financials have been hammered in the markets as the credit turmoil continues to dent sentiment for their shares. It only makes sense that investors in the credit default swap market are also betting against banks and other financials.
CDS Report: “Banks continue to fuel investors’ worst fears”
The financial sector drove the cost of protection against default for European corporate debt higher on Monday as fears over further mortgage and structured credit related writedowns continued to haunt the credit derivative markets.
CDS Report: Cost of default protection on HSBC debt soars
The cost of protecting HSBC’s debt against default leapt on Friday after analysts warned that Europe’s biggest bank may be forced to consolidate two off-balance-sheet vehicles worth billions of dollars and bear the losses from their investments.
CDS Report: Nervy markets widen after Merrill writedown
European credit derivatives markets remained on the defensive on Thursday after Morgan Stanley revealed a $3.7bn loss on investments linked to the US subprime mortgage market.
Morgan Stanley joins the growing list of banks such as Citigroup and Merrill Lynch that have been forced to take writedowns on subprime-related securities.
CDS Report: The bears are back as Crossover hits a fresh high
Any hopes that Tuesday’s rally in European credit derivative markets was a turning point were dashed on Wednesday as the indices more than reversed the previous day’s decline in the cost of protection against corporate default.
CDS Report: Credit derivatives markets tighten but fear remains
European credit derivatives markets reversed the strong widening trend of the past three days on Tuesday, but volumes were thin as traders remained cautious about further US subprime mortgage pain to come from the banking sector.
CDS Report: Sainsbury’s tightens after Qatari deal collapses
The cost of insuring J Sainsbury’s debt against default plummeted on Monday, after Delta Two, the Qatari backed investment fund, scrapped its £10.6bn bid for the supermarket group.Five year credit default swaps written on Sainsbury’s bonds tightened by 175bp to about 70bp,
CDS report: Credit indices hit seven-week high
The cost of protecting European corporate debt against default soared to a seven-week high on Friday, as fears mounted that a second wave of sub-prime losses would force banks to take further writedowns.