Credit default swaps stop fire sales
Companies with credit default swaps have more liquid bonds and tighter spreads than those that don’t because investors can hold their bonds after a downgrade

Spotlight on airlines - Waiting for take off
The recession has seen 30 airlines go bust. Now the survivors are hoping that a predicted growth in passenger numbers will lift them back into profitability

Credit spotlight – cash guzzlers
The recovery in oil prices has not helped refineries, where overcapacity and weak demand have seen cash reserves go up in smoke.

2006 CDO league tables - synthetic CDO volumes explode
Synthetic CDO issuance doubled last year according to Creditflux Data+. The total notional of tranches traded was $450 billion – up from $224 billion in 2005. That rapid growth puts synthetic CDO volumes clearly ahead of the $414 billion of cash CDO issuance last year