“People are still standing.” So a friend of ours characterized the broadly syndicated loan market at the close of a bumpy 2015. From his perch at a big bank trading desk, he put a good face on investor appetite. “There are still bids,” he told us.

Another large cap sales pro agreed. “Investors are putting money to work,” he said. “They are constructive at a price.”

These sentiments reflect modest optimism among the liquid loan crowd that 2016 will begin in better shape than the battered public equity and debt markets. Credit appetite and liquidity, particularly for well-favored sectors and issuers, should allow reasonably priced and structured deals to get done.

As always happens, market volatility has highlighted the difference between the world of larger, rated borrowers, and the middle market.