Nu variant panic sends credit spreads to the year's wides
The discovery of a new covid-19 variant has routed financial markets at the end of what had already been a dour week, sending credit spreads to their widest of the year

Convergence traders dine out as Europe widens in US absence
Traders betting on Europe / US credit convergence have much to be thankful for on Thursday, with the gap between investment grade CDS spreads having vanished and high yield noticeably reduced

Dispersion returns at wide end as credit deterioration extends
Credit spreads are back to their widest since mid-October - and approaching the year's extremes - amid a second straight session of sharp deterioration

Spreads jump wider as Fed chair gets another four years
Financial markets have not reacted well to the nomination of US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell for another four-year term, taking this as signal for a more hawkish path of policy

Telco and retailer gap wider as PE firms circle
Telecom Italia is one of the Monday credit market's biggest underperformers, in an otherwise finely poised start to the week

Covid fourth wave lockdowns hit credit with travel cos under pressure
A flattish week in credit gave way to a spread widening move on Friday, as investor concern focused on a fourth wave of covid-19 cases in Europe and further signs of Chinese economic slowdown

Citadel promotes credit head to co-CIO
Citadel has promoted its global credit head to co-chief investment officer

Slow and sustainable trades will win race in '22: BofA
A year on from the US presidential election and unveiling of covid-19 vaccines, the credit compression looks challenged. But 'laggards' and sectors with strong capex growth still hold promise

Credit bull run falters as central bank glow abates
Thoughts that the credit market had taken a positive directional shift are turning, after Tuesday’s session has brought a sizeable retracement wider, but credit strategists predict an overall firming of tone into the end of the year off the back of dovish central bank meetings

Citi's former correlation trading star takes on new risk head role
Citi's former head of credit correlation trading has taken on a new role in the bank, becoming head of in-business market risk for global markets

Europe dominates ESG issuance, but US is racing to catch up: BofA
The stark gap between European and other regions in issuing ESG bonds has been thrown into the spotlight by last week’s COP26 summit. Nevertheless, encouraging data suggests the US is accelerating fast in its drive to bridge the gulf, finds Bank of America

Earnings season and lifted hedges return credit to best levels in more than month
What began as a cautious, risk-averse week for the credit market is ending with a distinctly more bullish tone, with a fourth successive day of improvement taking spreads to their tightest levels for over a month

"Growth in credit products lets investors express sector-specific views as dispersion ticks higher"
Investors can use ETFs, volatility dispersion swaps or even bond baskets to trade dispersion

It's a-live! AI platform launch puts US ratings in spotlight
RoboR8, a fintech platform that aims to democratise credit ratings through artificial intelligence, has launched and hopes to rate 50,000 companies by the end of December, before building to several million in 2022.

Tantrum time: investors brace for Fed to taper bond buying
The US Federal Reserve’s likely decision to curb its $120 billion-a-month bond purchase programme is looming as Creditflux goes to press

Credit rallies on Fed and BofE rates signals, but starting gun fires on tapering
Credit and equity markets have responded well to the US Federal Reserve unveiling much anticipated plans to begin tapering asset purchases, while vouching it will stay patient on hiking interest rates. The Bank of England followed this on Thursday by holding its rates at 0.1%

Credit hedge funds (November 2021)
Credit hedge fund returns

Ucits at a glance: Robus and Altana enter the final sprint neck and neck
A downward turn hit Ucits funds as 65% of them made positive returns in September,

Points up front: Definitely not an ex-parrot
One of the biggest credit fund launches last month was Arini, led by star credit trader Hamza Lemssouguer  

Dispersion trades in play as transatlantic rift opens
The return of idiosyncratic risk at the wide end of US and European high yield markets has put index equity tranches for the two jurisdictions on noticeably divergent paths, say correlation traders

Energy crunch grows as differentiator for EM and western credit
Surging energy prices are adding to the inflationary picture in global economies and point to a mounting crisis that could bring sharply divergent performance for different parts of the credit market

Rental firm accelerates bullish drive despite credit market's heavy braking
Vehicle rental firm Avis Budget and UK retailer Iceland are among rare single name big movers in credit this week, as a tone of caution continues to hold sway over broader directional signals

There's still time to pick up pennies in credit before steamroller arrives: BNP Paribas
Declining dealer inventories, rising fund cash balances, and a greater prevalence of hedging have added up to produce a credit market that is positioned too short, according to BNP Paribas strategists

Zais and BNP Paribas strike ESG breakthrough with climate change CSO
The growing theme of environmental, social and governance standards helping to revitalise the market for collateralised synthetic obligations appears to have taken a big step forward, with Zais Group and BNP Paribas partnering on a first-of-its-kind deal that could lay a template for future transactions