The 16.5% return through Nov. 8 on investment-grade corporates compares quite nicely indeed with minus 14.3% for the S&P 500, 3.8% for the CSFB High Yield Index and 9.7% for the ten-year U.S. Treasury note.
At the beginning of the year, the outstanding value of corporate bonds in Europe was less than a third of America's euro598 billion ($705 billion) of outstanding European corporate bonds, compared with euro1.9 trillion for American firms.
The company also wrote off $834 million in corporate loans, compared with $189 million in the period a year ago.
One straw in this increasingly turbulent wind can be found at the major ratings agencies: the number of downgrades they assign to corporate bonds, compared with upgrades.
The rise and fall of Parmalat illustrates the archaic nature of corporate Italy compared with business in other Western industrial powers.
A United account executive "has 10 corporate accounts compared to a Delta A.E. that has 60," according to Mr. Bette's letter.
Lower revenue from oil and gas companies accounted for about £1 billion of a £1.7 billion shortfall in corporate taxes compared with last year.
In an interview, Mike O'Brien, Hyundai's vice president of product and corporate planning, compared the company's team to the explorers Lewis and Clark, pioneering long-distance fuel-cell travel.
A third of the S.E.C.'s staff departed from 1998 to 2000, said Mr. Walker, who also noted that last year the S.E.C. was able to review only 16percentt of annual corporate filings, compared with its goal of 30percentto35percentcent.
As for risk, the spread on high-yield corporate bonds, compared with American government bonds, has risen from very modest to slightly less modest: from 267 basis points in late February to only 310 points on March 2nd.
