| Brokers face new threat in high-yield trading |
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A new electronic high-yield bond platform, owned by a small independent company called Vega-Chi, aims to cut out the banking middleman
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| European companies face uncertain future |
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Lenders appear to be becoming less amenable to extending company loans when they hit a sticky patch, which could see a surge in corporate failures
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| Record global sales of junk bonds |
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Junk bond issuance totalled a record $19.6bn last week, including a sizeable chunk of debt that European companies sold in the US
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| New York Fed weighs fresh securities auction |
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Decision due in days on whether to sell bundled mortgage securities acquired during the AIG bail-out after successful Maiden Lane sale
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| ECB tonic buys time for eurozone |
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The ECB’s longer-term financing operations have bought time for the region, but investors and strategists remain well aware that the day of reckoning still looms
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| Institutions warm to leveraged and inverse funds |
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Interest among institutional investors is growing for leveraged and inverse ETFs
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| Risky debt use on repo market hits 2008 levels |
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The use of lower-rated debt in a key US funding market has returned to pre-crisis levels, fuelling fears that the so-called shadow banking system is becoming riskier
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| Africa – a resilient frontier amid euro turmoil |
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Debt issuance by African countries and companies outside the northern Arab states hit a record $12.4bn last year and demand is rising
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| Madrid’s borrowing costs fall sharply |
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Spain added to its recent string of strongly subscribed debt sales on Thursday as its borrowing costs continued to ease
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| Record-breaking start to 2012 for Asian bonds |
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Investment-grade Asian companies outside Japan issue $5.76bn of debt, by far the biggest total ever seen in January
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| Highly rated US industrial bonds set records |
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IBM and Procter & Gamble sold bonds at new lows for interest rates as investors accept low returns in exchange for safety
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| Petrobras sells $7bn of corporate bonds |
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The sale marks the biggest fixed income offering by a Brazilian corporate and underlines the strength of the country’s equity and debt markets
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| US Treasury urged to go below zero |
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Bond dealers and institutional investors say the Treasury should allow debt sales at negative rates of interest
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| Portugal borrowing costs fall after ECB action |
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Successful auction of €1.5bn of shorter-term debt follows European Central Bank intervention in buying the country’s notes earlier this week
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| Gilts’ bull run in question as QE3 beckons |
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Doubts are growing as to whether UK government bond yields can fall much lower even with another round of quantitative easing by the Bank of England
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| US commercial property faces debt test |
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The market for US commercial property loans faces a test this year as a wave of debt from the credit boom matures
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| NYSE board stands by Niederauer |
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Chairman says full board of directors is ‘fully supportive’ of chief executive despite the failure of attempted tie-up with Deutsche Börse
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| Longer-term forecasts are a step backwards |
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Charles Goodhart says central bankers need to refocus attention away from point forecasts and instead be flexible to respond as events unfold
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| Portuguese yields fall further |
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A fresh sale of six-month and three-month debt reaches targets and yields fall
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| Volcker downplays risks to bond markets |
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The former Federal Reserve chairman rejected concerns by foreign governments that proposed trading rules for US banks would disrupt bond markets
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