The past, present and future of junk bonds

There's been a good deal of debate about the role of junk bonds in the ongoing credit crunch. Martin Lipton says the junk bond is the fount of it all. A Financial Times columnist weighs in, seeming to agree more with Lipton. One of his points is that we still do not know whether the high-yield market is in a for a really nasty spell. What if a recession really kicks in? What if companies really start to default (unthinkable a few years ago)? For the moment, there seems to be a mild resurgence in the market. First-quarter volume ticked up a bit. But hey, as the column points out, at least the ratings of high-yield issues reflect the reality of the risk. Then again, there may be some bargains to be had in distressed credit beyond leveraged loans. We'll see.    

For more:
- here's the Financial Time column

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