Credit markets
High five for distressed investors
There is a celebratory mood amongst distressed debt investors. Having spent several years scratching around for opportunities in a raging bull market, their cup now runneth over. We profile five leading funds in the distressed arena
Collateral damage
The practice of posting collateral against the risk of failed derivatives trades may protect dealers from the worst of the losses arising from Lehman's bankruptcy, says Joseph Pimbley. But what about trades that were not covered by such collateral…
Lawmakers take aim at CDS market
Regulators have been threatening the credit derivatives market with draconian new legislation in a bid to curb practices that supposedly exacerbated the current turmoil. But the lawmakers' belligerent comments are somewhat akin to closing the windows…
Rebooting the dollar market
Issuing a $4 billion deal in the climate of fear and uncertainty that characterised October's primary market required courage. Yet someone was needed to break the deadlock and IBM stepped forward. Simon Boughey looks at the deal's effect on the dollar…
Chris Crowley
October was the month that the credit event auction process was tested to its limits, with Lehman Brothers, Fannie and Freddie, and WaMu all undergoing settlement. Credit spoke to the strategy manager at Creditex to find out how the process bore up…
Market Graphic - How to hedge an ABS portfolio
For investors stuck with toxic ABS assets on their books, devising an effective hedging strategy is crucial. Jean-David Cirotteau and Marc Teyssier, analysts at SG, look at one such strategy
Rescue remedy
Governments and central banks have finally acted to attempt to stem the crisis that engulfed the world's financial markets. But is their response too little too late? Laurence Neville finds out
Lee Olesky
The new CEO of e-trading platform Tradeweb, who has been involved with the firm - and the modern derivatives market - since their inception, talks to Matthew Attwood
The great liquidity illusion ... and how regulators can make sure it never happens again
The root cause of the recent credit crisis was a misplaced belief that liquidity in the global financial markets was abundant, argues Anastasia Nesvetailova. This misconception enabled a localised crisis in the US subprime mortgage market to leach into…
Catching the wave
Special Report - Volatility products
Remodelling required?
Economic capital
Struck off
Credit default swaps (CDSs) offer protection against issuer default, and in general the protection is paid via a running spread rather than upfront. When the par spread changes, the contract cannot be unwound without leaving a default-contingent annuity…
The price was right
Credit derivatives
Isda applauds $25 trillion reductions in CDS notionals
Daily news headlines
DTCC closes out over $500 billion of Lehman exposure
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), which provides post-trade clearing and settlement services in the US capital markets, has completed the largest close out in its history, clearing over $500 billion of market participants’ exposure to…
Ted and dollar Libor fall again
Recovering US and European stock markets increased confidence in interbank lending today.
CDS spreads stay firm
The cost of credit protection on European and US banks remained stable this morning, as the world’s equity markets steadied after a volatile week.
Ice picks off ClearCorp
Atlanta-based Intercontinental Exchange (Ice) is to take over Chicago-based clearing house The Clearing Corporation (ClearCorp) as part of an effort to establish itself in the credit default swap (CDS) market.