Lebanon CDS auction pays out 86 cents to protection buyers
Holders of protection on Lebanon sovereign debt have received an 86 cent pay-out on every dollar, after today's credit event auction produced a final price of just 14 cents

Matalan heads deep into distress
Matalan, the UK retailer, is heading deep into distressed territory with its five-year CDS surging wider today

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

Eight bidders line up for Lebanon CDS auction as Morgan Stanley joins
Tomorrow's auction to settle Lebanon sovereign CDS will have eight participating bidders, after the Determinations Committee voted to add Morgan Stanley to the list

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

Fortunes diverge for widest retailers as Crossover passes 500bp
CDS referencing Hema and Matalan, two of the riskiest constituents of iTraxx Crossover, have moved sharply in different directions amid a broad sell-off of Europe credit that takes the index back above 500bp

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

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

Matalan default risk jumps as market mood dampens
UK retailer Matalan is a big decliner today in bonds and CDS, as positive sentiment ebbs from the credit market after the recent strong rally

Credit pulled in different directions as coronavirus relief opens political divisions
A cautious tone surrounds the return of European credit trading after the long weekend - and the Fed-package furore that ended last week. Today's lack of European credit direction comes despite big rallies in Asia, better stock markets and an EU agreement on Friday for €500 billion in stimulus measures

Lebanon CDS auction set to include 15 cent bonds
The cheapest bonds to deliver into a credit event auction to settle Lebanese sovereign CDS could be worth only 15 cents in the dollar, according to a 27-note initial list published by the Determinations Committee

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

Good Thursday for credit, as Europe gains gusto from US resurrection
The Easter revival has come early for credit, with three straight days of global improvement and iTraxx Crossover today rallying again into the long weekend at its tightest print for a month

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

Former JP Morgan credit prop trader relaunches credit hedge fund
Palm Lane Partners is relaunching – two years after the credit hedge fund manager looked to spin out of JP Morgan Asset Management

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

Credit event hits new CDX HY as Crossover name's default risk surges
Whiting Petroleum has triggered a bankruptcy credit event, the Americas Determinations Committee has ruled, making it the first constituent default in newly on-the-run series 34 of the CDX HY index

Miscast as the villains of the 2008 crisis, CDS may prove to be the heroes of 2020
Credit default swaps provide investors with valuable signals on the depth of the coronavirus crisis

Investors need to ask: can my asset manager survive the crisis?

Short-dated CSOs touted as jump-to-default risk hits curves
The coronavirus outbreak has all but vanquished hopes of any regular CSO business getting done, but sources say bespoke portfolios of short-dated CDS could soon be in the offing as investors look to express a view on when the crisis will end.

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