Author Description

HIGH-YIELD BONDS provides state-of-the-art research, strategies, and tools—alongside the expert analysis of respected authorities including Edward Altman of New York University’s Salomon Center, Lea Carty of Moody’s Investor Service, Sam DeRosa-Farag of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Martin Fridson of Merrill Lynch & Company, Stuart Gilson of Harvard University, Robert Kricheff of CS First Boston, and Frank Reilly of the University of Notre Dame—to help you truly understand today’s high-yield market. For added value and ease of reference, this high-level one-volume encyclopedia is divided into seven sections detailing virtually every aspect of high-yield bond investment. They include: Market structure—The role of investment banks in security innovation and market development, evolution of analytical methodologies, and recent leveraged loan market developments; Security risk analysis—Historical bond default rates, real interest rate and default rate relationships, and new simulation methodologies for modeling credit quality; Security valuation—Impact of seniority and security on bond pricing and return, important trading factors, and a Monte Carlo simulation methodology for valuing bonds and options in the context of correlated interest rate and credit risk; Market valuation models—Econometric studies which detail the importance of monetary influences, risk-free interest rates, default rates, mutual fund flows, and seasonal fluctuations; Portfolio management—Historical perspective and comparison to alternative investments, analysis of indices available to investors, and specific portfolio selection and risk management strategies of professional fund managers; Distressed security investing—Historical risk and return information, plus an academic overview of the market and decision criteria for uncovering and investing in securities with higher-than-average risk-adjusted returns; Corporate finance considerations—Emerging firms’ strategic choice between external debt and