Archive - Mar 12, 2009

On March 10, Markit gave information on the new participants in the upcoming IG12 on-the-roll investment grade index. The current IG11 index is set to roll into the new index on March 20, and continuing on the high turnover rate seen in the IG10-11 roll, in which 10 names were exchange, the current roll swaps out another 9 names. The majority of the removals are fallen angels with only one M&A predicated adjustment, based on the the Pfizer-Wyeth transaction.

On March 10, Markit gave information on the new participants in the upcoming IG12 on-the-roll investment grade index. The current IG11 index is set to roll into the new index on March 20, and continuing on the high turnover rate seen in the IG10-11 roll, in which 10 names were exchange, the current roll swaps out another 9 names. The majority of the removals are fallen angels with only one M&A predicated adjustment, based on the the Pfizer-Wyeth transaction.

From S&P release:

On March 12, 2009, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered its long-term ratings on General Electric Co. (GE) and units, including General Electric Capital Corp. (GECC), by one notch to 'AA+' from 'AAA'. We affirmed the 'A-1+' short-term credit ratings. The outlook is stable.

Yellow Pages operator RH Donnelley announced its full year results earlier and said it was seeking to restructure its capital structure. The company whose EBITDA was 2% lower from prior year at $1.4 billion was impacted by 8% declining advertising sales at $2.5 billion.

Yellow Pages operator RH Donnelley announced its full year results earlier and said it was seeking to restructure its capital structure. The company whose EBITDA was 2% lower from prior year at $1.4 billion was impacted by 8% declining advertising sales at $2.5 billion.

• Initial jobless claims rise to 654k as continuing claims hit record 5.3 million
• The ruble back to center stage (Bloomberg)
• Wall Street base salaries to double (Bloomberg)
• The Madoff drama climax (Reuters)
• How to deal with the insurance bailout (

We climbed the wall of worry today only to step off the top rung almost level to where we started. So it goes – sideways is the new up. Bears continue to predominate every discussion – leaving a 0.25% rally in equities a win. Similarly, bonds at 2.91% in 10Y is a significant rally as 3.02% holds again.

• Obama, Geithner failing to revive economy (WSJ)
• Cuomo claims Merrill misled congress on bonuses (Docket)
• Roubini: the made-off ponzi economy as a mirror of Bernie Madoff ($$$ RGE)
• USO at mercy of traders (WSJ)
• 4 states with une