Falling debt boostfor corporate bonds

The last 12 months have been difficult for corporate bonds, but with the economy picking up and debt levels coming down, investors can expect much better returns in the coming months

This year has been a difficult year for credit markets so far, with many issues affecting the performance of corporate bonds. One area that worried investors in bond markets was Argentina's default. In early January 2002, Argentina announced the biggest debt default in history ' after a period of hyperinflation, it collapsed under the weight of excessive public debt. Argentina's default on its $141bn debt also included international bonds (which was not the case when Russia defaulted). Another concern was Enron, the energy trading company that collapsed last December and became...