Moody's sees 300 junk bond issuers defaulting in next year
12:22 PM ET 1/14/09 | Marketwatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Moody's Investors Service said Wednesday it expected the rate of default among global junk bond issuers to top 15% by year-end, surpassing the peak of 12% reached in 1991, as companies struggle with high credit costs and recessionary economies. The rate of defaults among speculative-grade corporate bond issuers rose to 4% last year, or more than four times 2007 levels, the ratings agency said. "Global economic conditions are now substantially weaker and more perilous than they were in the two previous credit cycles of 1990-91 and 2001-02," said Kenneth Emery, director of corporate default research at Moody's. Its forecast implies about 300 corporate defaulters over the next 12 months, or about 25 a month.
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