Volatility has come for Corporate America’s bonds, not just its stocks
We all know the US stock market has been ridiculously volatile lately, with last week’s moves registering among the craziest ever. But the credit market’s gyrations have also been exceptional lately.
This stunning factoid comes to us from Goldman Sachs Global Head of Hedge Fund Coverage Tony Pasquariello, passed along from his colleague Kevin Boova.
“CDX IG moved 20 basis points from peak to trough on Wednesday; peak to trough for all of last year was 14 basis points,” he wrote.
CDX IG refers to the cost of five-year credit-default swaps on a basket of US companies deemed to be investment grade. This insurance typically get costlier in times of market angst and economic hardship (when worries about defaults rise) and cheaper in more benign environments.
Even if we take intraday values for 2024, the range for last Wednesday is still larger than last year, too (by a smidge).