Base correlation tumbles as idiosyncratic risks emerge
The market-distorting power of government and central bank interventions has been easily observable in bond/CDS differentials during the covid-19 crisis — as noted in various Creditflux articles this past month. But an even more extreme reaction appeared in CDX index tranches on 9 April, when base correlation measures plummeted following the US Federal Reserve’s unveiling of a $2.3 trillion aid package

CDX HY and tranches hit as Whiting protection buyers win big pay-out
Whiting Petroleum CDS have settled at a final price of just seven cents, meaning a 93 cents pay-out to buyers of protection on the Denver headquartered exploration firm

Credit finely poised despite German affront to ECB bond buying programme
Credit markets have hit a moment of near equilibrium, with little change in most spreads, as the market seeks firmer answers to questions lockdown easing, earnings, oil supply/demand and political stand-offs

Whiting CDS heads to auction, with Morgan Stanley joining bidders
The credit event auction to determine Whiting Petroleum CDS takes place today, with Morgan Stanley added to participating bidders and the pay-out to protection buyers expected to be as much as 90 cents in the dollar 

Frontier CDS auction final list points to 75 cent pay-out
An auction next week to settle Frontier Communications CDS will have 20 deliverable obligations, according to a final list published by the Americas Determinations Committee. The cheapest of these suggest a payout on CDS of around 74.5 cents

European credit converges further with US after White House stokes coronavirus dispute
The mood hangs heavy in credit markets as the week begins, with the US having ramped up its war of words with China over the origin of coronavirus and much of Europe returning from 1 May holidays to catch up on Friday's move wider

US-Europe relative value gap closes as market sell-off resumes
Credit markets are heading wider into the weekend, with European underperformance closing a relative value gap that had opened with the US last Friday. The moves accompany detoriation in equity markets, stoked by the threat of a renewed US-China tariff war, pressured bank results, airline job cuts and poor UK economic numbers

Mood lifts on stressed credits as European high yield leads rally
Some of the widest trading companies in European credit made a sharp move tighter on hopes of government support extending into high yield, as rallying momentum picked up this morning across the market before a US-led reversal

Diamond set to be fourth CDS auction in May
An auction to settle CDS referencing Diamond Offshore Drilling will take place on 22 May, the Americas DC has said, adding to auctions earlier in the month for Whiting Petroleum, Frontier Communications and Ecuador

Selecta and Southwest battered as market trades flat as a pancake
Single name credit movements are taking focus as market volatility abates, with Selecta Group and Southwest Airlines earnings putting them among the biggest wideners

HY tranche traders face another cut as Diamond hits the rough
US high yield index CDX HY has suffered its third constituent credit event in a month, after Diamond Offshore Drilling filed for chapter 11 protection in the Southern District of Texas. This is also the fifth default to hit on-the-run CDX HY tranches

Airlines and banks lead way as credit rallies on aid measures
Airlines are getting the best of a positive start to the week, with hopes of financial assistance growing for European carriers and spreads generally pushing tighter after the Bank of Japan unveiled new stimulus measures

Credit keeps its own rhythm amid oil crash and EU clash
As another week of worry and disappointment ends, the most optimistic thing that can be said for credit is the new peak spreads are lower than those that went before - suggesting a more manageable level of volatility is starting to characterise the market

US/Europe relative value in play as oil prices stabilise
Tightening European credit indices today have added to the relative value trading opportunity with US counterparts ahead of that market's open

Whiting CDS auction delayed as bonds slump to single digits
The Determinations Committee has voted to postpone by a week an auction to settle CDS referencing Denver headquartered exploration firm Whiting Petroleum

Market sell-off gathers pace as oil rout spills over into credit
Credit spreads are pushing wider across the board today, along with slumping stocks, after a crash in oil prices took WTI futures below zero for the first time

Frontier CDS auction to follow Lebanon and Whiting Petroleum
An auction to settle CDS referencing Frontier Communications will take place next month

Italian banks push wider on EU coronabond stand-off
Political divisions over tackling the coronavirus economic crisis are front and foremost for European credit traders this week ahead of an EU leaders virtual summit on Thursday, with Italian and Spanish banks among today's worst performers in CDS

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

Extreme gap opens for basis traders as relief packages cause distortion
Evidence abounds for how government and central bank interventions in the coronavirus crisis are distorting credit markets, but one clear signal is the flip-around of the basis between corporate bonds and CDS in recent days

Whiting initial list points to 90 cent CDS pay-out
Four bonds have made it onto an initial list of deliverable obligations for an auction to settle CDS referencing Whiting Petroleum, which triggered a bankruptcy credit event earlier this month

Trouble brews for hard-hit credits despite improving optimism
Deutsche Lufthansa, Hema and Matalan are among credits pushing wider against the grain today as the European market tightens back within its recent narrower range

Frontier triggers credit event but HY equity tranches outperform
Frontier Communications has triggered a bankruptcy credit event, the Americas Determinations Committee has confirmed. This is the fourth credit event to hit recently off-the-run index CDX HY series 33, on which on-the-run index tranches are based and for which recoveries have so far been very low

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

Equity tranche hits stack up with Frontier Communications bankruptcy
One of the longest anticipated credit events in the US high yield universe appears to have come to pass, with Frontier Communications filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection