Research Zeitgeist: Top Posts and Hot Topics
Junk bonds are in the spotlight this week with two separate but related posts topping the list of most read at Research Recap. Speculative grade bonds now account for half of all corporate bonds, leading Standard & Poor’s to predict that a
Glut of Junk Bonds Will Boost the Overall Bond Default Rate. Moody’s, meanwhile forecasts a Tripling of Junk Bond Defaults by Year-end.
With oil prices reaching record highs on an almost daily basis, it is no suprise that the IMF’s Speculation Playing “Significant Role” in Oil Price Surge was popular. You know this issue is getting serious when the Financial Times calls for a global oil summit.
Such a summit would have three objectives: to encourage energy efficiency, and so reduce future oil demand; to promote investment in new oil supplies; and to smooth the recycling of billions of dollars in oil revenues from producers back into consuming countries. All three tasks would be easier with international co-operation and there are enough shared interests to make a worthwhile deal possible.
Staying with energy, Freeedonia’ massive Industry Study World Biofuels Demand to Expand 20 percent Annually, drew interest, concluding that ethanol will dominate the industry for some time despite criticism that its is driving up food prices.
Research Recap Quote of the Week:
Maybe working longer is the best answer. After all, the retirement age was set at 65 in 1933, when average life expectancy was 63. With life expectancy today at 78 years, perhaps we should just plan to work until we’re 80.
S&P chief economist David Wyss’s proposed solution for Baby Boomer generation’s projected shortfall in retirement resources.
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