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Deutsche Bank's $1.5 billion asset-based deal for Toys 'R Us hit the market last week and had some investors struggling with how to treat the credit, which is backed by $2.4 billion of unencumbered real estate assets.

F+W Publications warned lenders last week that it may breach covenants on its $400 million credit, causing the company's second lien to drop more than 10 points.

Running with the baseball pitch at the annual LSTA conference, panelists came out wearing the jerseys of major league teams.

-- Bram Smith, senior managing director at Bear Stearns, during his introduction to the State of the Leveraged Loan Market at the LSTA Conference.

Loan pricing will continue to decline with the demand for loans remaining strong and new issuance at record levels, according to panelists discussing the state of leveraged loan market at the Loan Syndications and Trading Association's annual conference in New York last week.

The following charts show the top five advancers and decliners in terms of % moves in the loan, bond and credit default swap markets for the previous week

Dealers are gearing up for CDO market expansion in advance of a Financial Accounting Standards Board amendment, expected to ease accounting requirements for CDO investors.

Bayerische Landesbank is looking to boost its derivative capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region next year with plans to launch an equity derivatives book and locally-generated structured products.

Bear Stearns has hired equity derivatives trader Thomas Veylon from SG Corporate & Investment Banking.

Lars Sjumarken, head of equity derivative sales for the Nordic region at BNP Paribas in London, has left the firm.

Calyon has hired Rahul Mani, a senior credit derivatives flow trader at Barclays Capital in London, and Matthew Miller, former credit trader at Commerzbank.

Surging credit derivatives volumes were again center stage, with ISDA figures pointing to 48% growth in the first half of the year.