One red flag for lenders is that the volume of energy debt rated CCC or below — the weakest ratings among
junk bond issuers — has more than doubled to $ 62 billion from a year ago, Fitch said in a June 12 report.
Moreover, Moody's said the ranks of the lowest level of
junk bond issuers are growing, with an 8 percent quarterly increase and 27 percent growth annually, thanks in large part to weakness in oil and gas companies.
Not exact matches
Greylock, a $ 990 million hedge fund run by Willem J. «Hans» Humes, says in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that international
junk bonds are «generally considered to be predominantly speculative with respect to the
issuer's capacity to pay,» and that defaulters sometimes end up shielded by «principles of sovereign immunity.»
Junk bonds are typically subordinated, unsecured debt obligations of the
issuer.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch raised a total of $ 2.6 billion in investment banking fees in the US last year, when it benefited from a boom in
junk bond underwriting as corporate
issuers rushed to take advantage of low rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's plans to withdraw stimulus measures.
Overall, default rates among
junk -
bond issuers are projected to move about 3 percent next year, according to Moody's Investors Service, up from 2.7 percent in the first 10 months of this year.
And since most
issuers have taken advantage of cheap money to lock in low rates, few
junk bonds mature next year, Moody's says.
High yield
bonds are better known as
junk bonds because the credit quality of the underlying
bond issuer is low.
The S&P 500 High Yield Corporate
Bond Index tracks the
junk bonds of
issuers of the S&P 500 and as the yields indicate, on average, they tend to be better quality than the
bonds in the broader index.
U.S. Treasury
bonds are considered to be the safest investment available, while high - yield,
junk bonds have significant risk of the
issuer failing to pay interest or repay principal.
High - yield
bonds (sometimes referred to as
junk bonds) typically offer above - market coupon rates and yields because their
issuers have credit ratings that are below investment grade: BB or lower from Standard & Poor's; Ba or lower from Moody's.
High - yield
bonds, also known as «
junk bonds,» generally have a greater risk of default, which increases the risk that an
issuer may be unable to pay interest and principal on the issue.
Filed Under: Daily Investing Tip Tagged With: avoid
junk bonds, Investing,
junk bonds Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card
issuer, airlines or hotel chain, or other advertiser and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
This has particularly been the case for
issuers rated below investment grade, like Rogers Communications, who have accessed the well developed U.S. high yield or
junk bond market.
Junk bonds involve a greater risk of default or price changes due to changes in the
issuer's credit quality.
Junk -
bond issuers — those with low credit ratings — tend to sink or swim with the health of the economy.
A fallen angel is a
bond that was given an investment - grade rating but has since been reduced to
junk bond status due to the weakening financial condition of the
issuer.
Since this fund is composes of higher quality issues, the risk of default is modest compared to
junk bonds, but of course, we only consider US government debt as the sole risk - free
bond issuer.
When
Junk Bonds Perform Poorly Signs of financial distress or weakness from the
issuer will drag down the price of these securities.