California Resources auction set as CLOs hold loans and recoveries look low
The Americas Determinations Committee has set a date to resolve CDS referencing California Resources Corp, which has triggered a failure-to-pay credit event

Relief rally follows relative value trading on US/Europe credit and tranches
Credit markets look set to end the week on a cautious retracement tighter, after several sessions of heavy reminders the coronavirus crisis is far from over and that sector/geographical selection remains important

Sculptor CEO Shafir to step down with CIO taking dual role
Sculptor Capital Management has announced that its chief investment officer will take also take on the role of chief executive officer, effective 1 April 2021

Intelsat CDS set for deemed auction today at 100% recovery
Intelsat Investments CDS will be settled today at 100% recovery through a deemed auction, the Determinations Committee has said

There will surely be jewels in the high yield dung heap, but the risk-reward is more compelling in IG
Whatever the long-term effects of the pandemic, one thing stays the same: IG looks attractive

Fund performance: CLO tranches move up
April returns managed a partial bounce back after a tumultuous March. 82% of funds listed in the Creditflux database made positive returns, showing at least small signs of recovery after 90% of all funds listed posted negative returns in March

Bankrupt Hertz runs out of gas with CLOs holding $245 million
CLOs hold $245 million of Hertz’ debt as the US-based car rental company drives into bankruptcy protection, with the coronavirus panedemic putting brakes on the Estero, Florida-headquartered's firm car rental operations

CLOs on lookout as Neiman recovery signals slump and DC confirms credit event
Five-year CDS referencing Neiman Marcus widened by four points to 95.25 points up front, according to IHS Markit, as the Americas Determinations Committee confirmed the US retailer has triggered a bankruptcy credit event

KKR takes covid-19 hit on flagship credit funds and lev fin
KKR took a 16% hit to returns on its alternative credit flagship funds amid the first quarter coronavirus downturn and a 13% loss on leveraged credit, taking these into negative territory for the last 12 months. The firm's private equity portfolio also slumped by 12%

Credit Rendezvous: recovery begins, but is it U, V or even W?
Investing in credit is not as easy as ABC. The coronavirus crisis has crushed valuations and although most assets will eventually pull to par, no one is sure how the recovery will pan out

Frontier bankruptcy dials up pressure for 90 CLOs
Nine CLO managers hold $217 million of Frontier Communications’ debt across 90 CLOs, as the telecommunications company filed for Chapter 11 protection in the US Bankruptcy Court Southern District of New York

US credit leads surge tighter on Fed package to close gap with Europe
What was already a much more positive week for credit has ended with a massive jump-start, as the US Federal Reserve unveiled a $2.3 trillion relief package targeting small businesses and municipalities but with additional support for bigger companies, including 'fallen angel' household names

CDX HY and EM trade with fresh legs after defaulted names drop out
New series of US high yield index CDX HY and emerging market index CDX EM begin their first full day of trading today, having replaced outgoing versions on Friday amid a weakening of credit markets due to the spreading impact of the coronavirus outbreak

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 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

McClatchy whacks out killer headline as CDS pays 98 cents
A month ago, when US newspaper company McClatchy triggered a bankruptcy credit event, sellers of CDS protection may have consoled themselves they were only looking at paying out around 27 cents on the contracts. But yesterday’s credit event auction set the final price at just two, meaning a whopping 98 cent windfall for protection buyers

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

Credit managers hunker down as idiosyncratic risks persist
A slew of earnings reports from credit managers and business development companies shows that deal-making and performance are robust, but great importance is being placed on credit selection.

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.

CDS takes brunt of coronavirus panic sell-off
European credit derivatives are among the hardest hit assets today amid a broad sell-off, as the fast spread of the coronavirus into Italy, Korea and Iran has brought a reappraisal of the impact it could have on financial markets

Credit traders’ kickstand: weaker mood, but primary drive strengthens
The primary market for high yield bonds is open again, after a pause around the US holiday on Monday, with issues in Europe today from the likes of SIlgan and Catalent striking a bullish tone and setting the scene for an expected flurry of deals next week. But this comes as credit generally weakens, with concerns about the spread and reappraisal of coronavirus cases causing spreads to push back from their recent tights

Credit traders' kickstand: full reversal for Crossover as coronavirus spreads
European high yield CDS index iTraxx Crossver is ending the week back at around 230bp, in effect undoing all its improvement since the start of December

CLO giant casts eye on CSOs with plans to hire credit derivatives trader
An asset manager with almost $40 billion in CLO investments is looking to hire a credit derivatives trader in Newark in a role which would include coverage of index tranches and CSOs

European financials outperform corporates as coronavirus spreads
Financial CDS is outperforming corporate credit today, and Europe outperforming the US, as the market jumps wider on rising alarm at the spread of China’s novel coronavirus

Change at top for Citi correlation trading as head assumes chief risk officer job
A long-serving managing director at Citi has taken sole charge of correlation trading, after the previous head of credit correlation moved to a newly created role