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JPMorgan and Credit Suisse First Boston held onto their respective titles as the best par and distressed loan trading desks in LMW's 2005 Best Trading Desk survey.

The continued weak performance of the equity markets could hit the high-grade credit markets, in the form of credit-damaging leveraged buy-outs, dividends, share buybacks and other shareholder-friendly plans, say bond strategists.

--Mark Dowding, head of global bonds at INVESCO Asset Management in London, on the attractiveness of some emerging market credits.

In the summer of 1995, Allison Taylor, then head of par loan trading at ING Barings, met with 15 fellow traders at the Water Club on the east side of New York.

The high rollers in the loan market were tested last Thursday night at LMW's Casino Showdown.

Prytania Investment Advisors, a London-based asset manager, is readying its first investment fund--a euro-denominated fund that will invest in mezzanine tranches of asset-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations with a target size of €300 million.

TD Securities has joined a consortium of 13 banks that waive assignment fees on a reciprocal basis.

Maxim Group, a structured products broker-dealer formed in 2002, is diversifying its business away from its core markets and into new areas, such as distressed emerging market trading, which have less commitment from the heavyweight banks.

Three-year Treasuries could experience a short-term bounce if and when the Treasury decides to bring back the 30-year.

Kevin Dooley, senior par trader at TD Securities, on the bank joining the consortium to waive assignment fees on a reciprocal basis.

Thrivent Financial For Lutherans plans to add up to $70 million in double-B credits to bring its allocation from underweight to neutral, on expectations double-Bs will outperform after recent spread widening.