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    A longer term debt–equity cycle

    Saturday, October 24th, 2009

    Credit spreads historically have been negatively correlated with 3-year rolling equity-market returns, as we would have expected from the Merton model. Indeed, there seems to be a longer term debt–equity cycle. But the chart also reveals a significant decoupling of equity and credit during the 1990s. Since equity-market performance alone is only temporarily able to explain variations of credit spreads, we will now analyze the impact of equity volatility on spreads. However, most of the time equity prices and implied volatility tell the same story. When stock prices are falling, demand for protection increases, and thus volatility, which is simply the price of protection, rises. The result is a strong negative correlation between equity prices and option-implied volatility. Yet the times, when both markets tell different stories, are the most interesting.

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    Posted in finances, financial principles, financial risks, funds, global market, innovative marketing, loans | Comments Off

    High growth and rising credit leverage

    Friday, October 23rd, 2009

    Phase 3 is characterized by high growth and rising leverage, as during the years 1997 to mid-2000. In this period M&A activity was rapidly accelerating, driven by a major focus on the creation of shareholder value. While earnings grew in this period, aggregate measures of corporate profitability like the ratio of after-tax profits of the nonfinancial corporate sector to GDP already declined. Deteriorating free cash flow measures also signaled heightened risk in the corporate sector. As one would generally expect in the expansion phase, equities performed well while credit spreads widened. In general, the high level of debt accumulated during the expansion makes companies vulnerable to economic downturns. Low growth and rising leverage increase the risk of defaults and rating downgrades, and are generally negative for credit as well as equity markets. The years 2000–02 are a typical example for this phase.

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    Posted in companies, credit cards, customer demand, developers, employee, equity, expenses | Comments Off