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Among the midsize, family-owned companies that power the German economy, it has long been an article of faith: credit comes from the friendly local banker, not from cold and distant capital markets. So Peter H. Leibold was breaking from the norm last year when he decided to finance the expansion of his company, which makes wood pellets for heating and energy generation, by selling corporate bonds. The company, German Pellets, raised more than 80 million euros ($102 million). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty-one months ago, as 2009 began, the financial world was in a shambles. Virtually every market associated with the uninsured, ''shadow'' banking system had closed down. There were jokes about what specialists in securitization asked in their new jobs. (Would you like fries with that, sir?) Now, almost every securitization market has reopened. Some are thriving. Even markets that involve lending to borrowers with poor credit, like leveraged loans and junk bonds, have recovered to a significant extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]