"Successful investing is going against the momentum and against the things that seem most logical in the present space."

Monday, July 30, 2007

Corporate Bond Risk Soars as Subprime Mortgage Losses Spread

July 30 (Bloomberg) -- The risk of owning corporate bonds rose to the highest in at least three years after a German bank slashed its profit forecast because of ``massive uncertainty'' in the market for subprime mortgages and credit.

Indexes linked to credit-default swaps in Europe and the U.S. rose to the highest since they were created in 2004, showing that the perception of credit quality is deteriorating. Contracts on Dusseldorf-based IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG IKB, which allow investors to speculate on its ability to repay debt, jumped to six times the prices of a month ago. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. rose to the highest on record.

``It's pure fear,'' said Gary Jenkins, a partner at London- based hedge fund Synapse Investment Management, which manages $650 million of debt assets. Jenkins was head of fundamental credit at Deutsche Bank AG before joining Synapse in April. ``It's fear of the unknown, fear of hedge funds unwinding, fear of knock-on effects of the subprime meltdown.''

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