Having the distinction of being the widest constituent in the Markit iTraxx Europe is clearly one that most companies would prefer not to have. Yet Glencore has held this dubious honour since the last index roll in March and beyond. It had a challenger in fellow miner Anglo American, but Anglo’s downgrade to junk and…

Credit risk has awakened from its summer slumber over the last couple of days with the CDX IG and iTraxx main now trading 8 and 11% higher than their close on Thursday. While it’s still too early to see whether this latest surge is a passing event or a longer lasting trend both indices are…

Emerging market economic growth managed to hang on to much of its momentum over August according to the latest release of the IHS Markit Emerging Market Composite PMI index. The August reading indicated that emerging market economies stayed in expansion territory for the third month in a row for the first time since the spring…

The Bank of England’s (BoE) revamped quantitative easing (QE) program hit an early snag last week when the central bank failed to source enough gilts on just the second day of purchases. This early setback has caused some to question the impact of the bank’s actions on the corporate bond market, and whether the bank…

Spanish engineering firms with exposure in Latin America may not be the most heavily traded segment of the credit markets, but they are certainly proving the most vulnerable. Isolux followed its counterpart Abengoa into default by announcing that it had won credit approval for a €2bn debt restructuring on July 28, and a bankruptcy credit…

The Bank of England doesn’t often follow the ECB. During the financial crisis and its aftermath, the Bank was relatively quick to cut interest rates and implement QE. The ECB was still hiking rates in July 2008, and didn’t start QE until 2015. But the eurozone’s central bank could lay claim to beating its UK…

Back in July 2010, not long after the first Greek bailout, results of stress tests conducted by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (the predecessor of the EBA) were released on the EU’s banks. They didn’t make for happy reading. Seven institutions failed, and they were required to raise additional capital to reach the 6%…

Last week’s failed Turkish coup, and the resulting crackdown, has spooked holders of Turkey’s dollar denominated government bonds. Gauged by Turkey’s CDS spread, the market’s perceptions of the country’s credit risk has jumped by more than a quarter from its close on Thursday. Turkey’s spreads hit 290bps on July 21, the widest level since February….

In the heady days of  2004-2007, before  the Great Moderation came to a shuddering halt, it seemed  set in stone that European investment grade CDS traded tighter than their North American counterparts. In May 2007, the Markit iTraxx Europe was trading at 20bps and the Markit CDX.NA.IG was quoted 15bps wider at 35bps. This 15bps…

The parlous condition of the European banking system keeps coming back to haunt the global economy, with the latest attack of lurgy coming from Brexit. The UK electorate’s vote to leave the EU has laid bare the weak credit quality of lenders, a state of affairs that needed little revealing. Markit’s iTraxx Senior Financials index,…