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Market professionals are increasingly scrutinizing record-tight emerging market spreads for the first signs of distress in the credit markets from rising rates.

Roughly 2,000 bond market bankers, researchers and investors gathered for the 11th Euromoney Bond Congress at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London last week.

Traditional bond managers and pension funds are increasing their activity in the foreign exchange markets to beef up returns amid tight spreads.

--Douglas Roberts, investment director at Standard Life Investments, on how it appears Japan is intent on exiting its zero interest rate policy and how it would affect inflation prospects.

Sales of inflation-linked sovereign bonds in Europe and Asia are expected to gain pace this year, with the obvious impetus being a growing global economy and the inherent risks associated with it.

A hedge fund looking to own a stake of Eddie Bauer Holdings bought a $21 million piece of The Spiegel Group's bank debt last week from HypoVereinsbank.

Lehman Brothers has wrapped up a refinancing of a collateralized loan obligation for INVESCO Senior Secured Management that scored the tightest pricing seen on the top-rated tranche of a leveraged loan CDO.

Bond managers could see a surge of new business over the next few years as a result of upcoming funding reform proposed by the Bush administration that would match the time profile of future cash flows with discount rates of similar duration.

The 30-year agency sector is trading tighter than swap spreads for the first time in four years, because of positive technicals for longer-dated triple-A paper and in an indication investors expect tighter regulation of the government-sponsored enterprises to become a reality.

Arturo Cifuentes, managing director and senior CDO analyst at Wachovia Securities, has been raising eyebrows with his colorful research reports.

Bryn Mawr Trust Wealth Management will put new money to work in single-A corporate and callable agencies in the seven- to 10-year range, said Miguel Biamon, v.p. and director.