Coronavirus volatility drives CDS clearing surge at LCH
CDS volume at LCH, the central clearing house of the London Stock Exchange, blew previous records out of the water in this year's first quarter, underscoring how the asset class served as a leading signal in the onset of the coronavirus pandemic

Axiom bets on 2002-style credit recovery with crossover fund launch
Axiom Alternative Investments is readying to launch a fund aimed at generating returns from the dislocation and revival of European and US credit as the coronavirus pandemic develops

Europe/US credit gap extends as coronavirus curves part ways
The gap between European and US credit performance is widening as hopes rise in Europe the spread of the coronavirus could be slowing even as its impact extends in the US

US/Europe CDS relative value in play as index gaps widen
A growing differential is opening this week between European and US credit derivative indices, with stark warnings yesterday on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic prompting a big sell-off in financial markets

Financials lag as credit rallies on Chinese manufacturing pick up
Credit market improvement has continued this morning on signs of Chinese economic recovery, after the rally in spreads resumed yesterday afternoon in Europe and throughout most of the US session

Financials and commodity names lead credit widening as oil slumps
Credit markets ended last week going wider and the theme continues today, as the price of oil slumps further amid growing concern about how the impact of the coronavirus outbreak will stifle demand

Credit traders' kickstand: market whipsaw throws tranche trades and index rolls into focus
Credit's relief rally was unlikely to last long, but hopes of reaching the weekend are dashed on today's sharp reversal, right as CDX HY and CDX EM roll into new series

Sovereign borrowing will crowd out corps and produce fallen angels, warns BofA
Investors should be wary of buying coporate credit that yields less than sovereign debt, Bank of America strategists have warned, predicting €20-30 billion of European fallen angel volume lies ahead as the market cycle turns

Jump-to-default risk collapses after Senate backs biggest ever US relief package
The US Senate's agreement of a record $2 trillion stimulus package is shaking jump-to-default risk from high yield corporate credit today, with some iTraxx Crossover constituents shedding over 1,000bp from the front end of their CDS curves

Credit markets rally, but hopes rest on US stimulus vote
Credit spreads are rallying back today, along with other financial markets, as hopes rise the US congress will agree a massive fiscal stimulus package and other governments in major economies echo a "whatever it takes" line to combat the coronavirus outbreak

Credit market hits new wides as government outbreak measures intensify
Credit market are making another push wider at the start of the week, after governments tightened restrictions on movement to deal with the escalating coronavirus outbreak

Axiom freezes credit exotics fund as volatility roils CDS market
Citing market volatility, Axiom Alternative Investments has suspended subscriptions and redemptions to a fund that invests in credit derivative products such as indices, tranches, options and single name CDS

Credit traders' kickstand: rolling with the pain, as relative value trades come unstuck
What a difference a month - and a pandemic - make. This time in February, no-one could have imagined a global financial crisis would be unfolding, that credit performance would be a battle between a virus and some of the biggest government and central bank interventions on record, that today's iTraxx Europe and CDX index rolls would traverse unprecedented ranges, that option expiry strikes would be blown beyond recognition, or that cash and CDS differentials would be whipsawing with such violence

ESG-compliant CDS index roll-out postponed on operational challenges
A new version of the iTraxx Europe index screened for environmental, social and governance standards will not begin trading tomorrow as planned, with adminstrator IHS Markit delaying the launch due to 'extreme market volatility'

CDS index rolls to proceed on time despite record volatility and lockdowns
This Friday's move into new CDS index series will go ahead as scheduled, administrator IHS Markit has said, having sought advice on whether to postpone the roll date due to coronavirus-led market volatility

CDS index roll day threatened with delay by virus volatility
This week's scheduled move to new series of iTraxx and CDX indices has been thrown into doubt by the extent of coronavirus-led volatility, with IHS Markit consulting on whether to postpone the roll day

Credit traders’ kickstand: roll nightmares haunt CDS market as indices whiplash
It’s Friday 13^th, but CDS traders will be hoping the worst of the horror shows are behind them as they try to regather their shredded nerves in time for next week’s biannual index rolls

Curve inversion for airlines and freight as Trump travel ban sparks sell-off
Airlines, travel firms and shipping companies are among some of the credits hit hardest by US president Donald Trump’s imposition of a ban on travel from mainland Europe, a move that sent the iTraxx Crossover index back to its widest level since October 2012

Credit breakdown as one-day volatility outstrips financial crisis
Credit default swap markets have surpassed the record one-day volatility of the global financial crisis, with indices surging to new wide prints as the spiralling impact of the coronavirus outbreak brings government lockdowns on travel while wreaking havoc on oil prices and supply chains

Credit traders' kickstand: this is not a drill
Freefall in financial markets has brought one of the credit market’s most volatile sessions on record, as coronavirus cases globally near 100,000 and the WHO has warned governments are not doing nearly enough. iTraxx Crossover one-day volatility is up with the 2008 global financial crisis and 2011 European sovereign crisis

Tranche traders aim to navigate default risk while staying clear of coronavirus contagion
The CDS market is navigating between two sources of risk for equity and mezzanine high yield index tranches. The default of US media company McClatchy has focused idiosyncratic concerns, while the spread of the coronavirus has stoked fears of a systemic sell-off.

IHS Markit mulls CDX EM growth and iTraxx ESG screen
Increasing the portfolio size of CDX EM and consulting on an ethically-screened version of iTraxx Europe are among the projects index administrator IHS Markit has been working on ahead of the 20 March roll.

Covid-19 outbreak rattles carry traders
The coronavirus panic hitting financials markets at the end of February has been a strong driver of relative value trades, with CDS underperforming both cash bonds and equity, while financial names felt the heat more than corporate borrowers as geographical risk came into play.

Huge CDS gap yawns between US and Europe, despite Fed intervention
Having crossed paths in a rare moment of compression on Monday, iTraxx Europe and its US counterpart CDX IG have since undergone one of their biggest moments of dislocation since the global financial crisis, as an emergency rate cut by the Federal Reserve failed to comfort investors about the impact of the coronavirus on the US economy

Europe rallies hard after CDX IG closes tighter for first time since June
Volatility in credit remains heightened due to the coronavirus outbreak, but movement has become two-way, with European CDS indices surging tighter today after US index CDX IG ended yesterday’s session tighter than iTraxx Europe for the first time in nine months