Goldman Sachs downgrades US Steel
Goldman Sachs strategists dongraded US Steel from outperform to underperform.

UniCredit recommends CDS pair trade in electricity sector
UniCredit analsts recommend a credit default swap pair trade on Edison and Gas Natural, by buying five-year CDS on Edison.

CIT files for prepackaged bankruptcy
CIT Group and CIT Group Funding filed for a pre-packaged, chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday at the US bankruptcy court for the southern district of New York.

RBC downgrades Telecom Italia's eurobonds
RBC credit analysts downgarded Telecom Italia's euro-denominated cash bonds from sector perform to underperform.

Goldman identifies refi-risk corporate curve opportunities
In its credit research this week, Goldman Sachs posited potential curve steepeners, identifying names with higher-than-normal refinancing risk.

ING likely to pay hybrid coupons, says BNP Paribas
Commenting on ING's debt restructuring, BNP Paribas analysts highlight the likelihood of the bank paying coupons on its hybrid securities.

RBC downgrades BSkyB on bond valuation
RBC credit research downgraded British Sky Broadcasting from outperform to sector perform.

Extension premium in lower tier-two's remain, say BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas analysts claim that lower tier-two bonds are still attractive, despite the reduction in the extension premium seen in recent months.

Crossover repricing likely with rising default rate, says BNP Paribas
Contending that the risk premium in Crossover is shrinking quickly, BNP Paribas analysts point to the possibility of repricing should default rates surge beyond rating agencies’ current estimates.

Maturity wall to ensure further refinancings, says Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs strategists estimate in their latest report that maturity extensions for $152 billion of debt will be necessary in order to take out the debt coming due between 2011 and 2014, and help reduce the size of the upcoming maturity wall.

US and Europe investment grade inflows diverge, says JP Morgan
JP Morgan’s most recent credit research highlights the divergence between inflows from retail investors to US investment grade credit and inflows to sterling and euro-denominated funds.

Bank of America/Merrill Lynch highlights credit market split
Bank of America/Merrill Lynch highlights the divergence in the credit markets between high-priced new issues and lower cash price secondary bonds.

UniCredit recommends Portuguese bank negative basis trade
UniCredit analysts recommend a negative basis trade on Banco Comercial Portuguese

BNP Paribas expects further tier-one coupon deferral
BNP Paribas analysts contend that Dexia is likely to defer coupon payments.

Loan default rate rises with more bankruptcies, says Barcap
Barclays Capital’s US credit research reports that the loan default rate has risen.

US credit and equity offer comparable value, says Goldman
Goldman Sachs strategists report in their recent research that US investment grade cash credit and equities now offer comparable relative value.

Pharma credits contain patent risk, says UniCredit
UniCredit recommends a cash bond trade today on Sanofi-Aventis and Roche.

Loan to bond financing ratio may shift, says SocGen
Societe Generale’s credit research today reports that the loan financing to capital market financing ratio may change.

Aviva tier-one still an opportunity, says BNP
Aviva’s tier-one perpetual bond has had a phenomenal run in recent weeks, analysts at BNP Paribas report.

Equity-credit divergence plays still attractive, say strategists
BNP Paribas analysts point out the recent divergence between equity and credit.

Potential event risk for Berry Plastics, says CreditSights
CreditSights analysts highlight the potential event risk related to Berry Plastics’ financial sponsor, Apollo Management in their most recent piece on the company.

2010 to be year of alpha generation, says Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs strategists foresee credit markets with improved risk-rewards of relative value and lower correlations, thus bringing about differentiated recoveries across different asset classes.

Dexia and ING allowed to call subordinated debt
Good news for European financials comes as the European Community allowed both Dexia and ING call an upper tier-two and lower tier-two bond, respecitvely.

BBVA announces hybrids exchange offer
According to a regulatory filing at the London Stock Exchange yesterday, BBVA announced an offer to exchange any and all of the existing euro- and sterling-denominated tier-one hybrid securities.