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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 examines government securities prices. Yields on U.S. Treasury bonds are at historic lows of less than one percent as investors have sought a safe haven during the financial crisis. Government securities yields have begun to rise in early 2009, however, as the spread between those rates and the returns offered by stock dividends and corporate bonds grew to levels of over 3 percent.

The article presents information on the $24 billion true high grade corporate bond transactions in the U.S. dollar market. One of the factors driving bond issuance is the flurry of acquisition-related financing. Event risk concerns by investors affected spreads and deal structures. Deals which offered concessions performed well in the aftermarket.