Bank lending can't be far behind.
* * * * * J B K * * * * *
San Francisco
March 12 (Bloomberg) -- The high-yield, high-risk leveraged loan market reached a more than 20-month high as companies, such as Fresenius SE, reduced minimum interest-rate floors to ensure a minimum return on new deals.
Prices on the Standard & Poor's/LSTA U.S. Leveraged Loan 100 Index, which tracks the 100 largest dollar-denominated first-lien leveraged loans, ended at 90.22 cents on the dollar yesterday, the highest since July 7, 2008, when it closed at 90.32 cents. The index's total return was 2.85 percent for the year as of yesterday.
The average minimum London interbank offered rate written into credit agreements, guaranteeing investors a certain interest rate, decreased as the loan market rebounded. These so- called Libor floors fell to an average of 232 basis points this year, down from an average of 279 basis points during 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=anL_ZWqWpC1s&pos=6
