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The article presents a study on the economic data of the Corporate Bond Credit in the U.S. According to the author, movements in the corporate bond spreads are important to many investors and potentially informative forward-looking metrics of market sentiment. The studies reviewed show that more than half of the variation in corporate bond credit spreads is not related to the financial health of the issuing firm, but rather reflects effects such as compensation for liquidity risk.

The article reports that corporate benchmark bond issuance in the European market for 2006 has ended with Wal-Mart and Telefónica purchasing large well absorbed issues. The reception on the deals reflected the good tone set in the corporate market for most of the year and continued to highlight investors' appetite for credit. Very little time was wasted between announcing the deal and pricing and the bonds were priced at the tight end of the 105 basis point to 110 basis point over Gilts guidance.