Bonds

UBS Group AG’s exposure to stricken property developer China Evergrande Group is “immaterial” and limited to the execution of collateral calls on margin loans, Chief Executive Officer Ralph Hamers said Thursday.

The threat of crippling price increases accompanied by slow growth challenges the belief keeping global markets aloft: that price pressures are temporary along a Goldilocks-like growth trajectory.

More opportunistic borrowers may come as investors continue to pour money into U.S. leveraged loan funds, which have seen the longest positive streak since 19 weeks between February and June 2018.

Strong growth, continued low-cost borrowing and an oil rally are all contributing to a friendly backdrop for high-yield issuance.

CLO new-issue month-to-date volume is at $8.9 billion, keeping pace with a record $15.8 billion total from February

Demand for the debt has outweighed supply by so much that some money managers are even calling companies to press them to borrow instead of waiting for deals to come their way.

A New York-state proposal to shift trillions of dollars in securities contracts from Libor- to SOFR-based benchmarks is gathering dust. That worries bankers and investors on on how to proceed with the next steps toward a replacement rate as Libor's post-2021 expiration grows nearer.

The Federal Reserve's extraordinary effort to keep credit flowing to companies during the COVID-19 pandemic is also shunting money to banks' bottom lines.

The company is looking to sell $1.1 billion of junk bonds secured by marquee properties including its State Street store in Chicago. The retailer is also setting up a line of credit worth about $3 billion, backed by its unsold goods

Hedge funds are making headlines daily with plans to capitalize on this rapid shift in the outlook, contending the market presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity