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Segall, Bryant & Hamill is looking to assume additional risk in its portfolio, either by moving down in credit quality or by adding to its mortgage-backed holdings. Greg Hosbein, portfolio manager of $1.5 billion, says the firm will shift about $30 million out of higher quality corporate or agency paper into lower-rated corporates or mortgage pass throughs in order to pick up additional yield. Before making the trade, Hosbein wants to wait for further spread widening in the secondary market, which he believes will occur as war-related concerns gather momentum.

While trying to contact a CDO desk late last week, a Loan Market Week staffer was told, "They're all in Scottsdale, Arizona." To which the naïve staffer said, "Oh, at the Asset Securitzation Conference." The bemused person at the other end of the line, responded, "No, playing golf." Believing this was a joke, the reporter went onto the Web Site of the conference and noticed that The Eighth Annual ABS West golf tournament was in fact underway on the Links golf course at the Arizona Biltmore. Sessions had concluded by tee-off.

The Deal Roll-off Chart, provided by Capital DATA Loanware, lists the 50 largest leveraged credit facilities in the U.S. market that are due to mature twelve months from now. It is designed to provide a look at potentially available money in the market as credits are renewed or retired.

This chart, provided by Citibank/Salomon Smith Barney Inc., tracks bid-ask prices for par credit facilities that trade in the secondary market. It also tracks facility amounts, ratings, pricing and maturities.

BWD Rensburg Ltd. is selectively buying new triple-A rated corporate issues. John Anderson, a Leeds-based portfolio manager of £21 million in gilts and corporates, says he has been putting new money to work in new issues from the European Investment Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank. Anderson buys bonds with a minimum maturity of five years, because of the fund's investment mandate. BWD Rensburg manages £300 million in fixed-income assets.

Margo Cook, portfolio manager at BNY Asset Management, will rotate 5% of the firm's portfolio, or $250 million, from Treasuries into corporates. The firm will look at the geopolitical environment and initiate the move if Treasuries rally as an immediate response to a war with Iraq, which Cook says is likely to be the case. She says a trigger for the rotation would be if the 10-year Treasury yield fell to 3.5% from last Monday's 4%.

O'Charley's has completed a $300 million credit facility after an upward price flex and a structural shuffling of the deal. Wachovia Securities leads the credit, which at launch consisted of a $150 million "B" piece priced at LIBOR plus 31/ 2% and a $135 million revolver priced at LIBOR plus 21/ 4%. However, the six-year "B" was whittled down to $100 million and its spread increased to 4% over LIBOR. The four-year revolver was increased to $200 million and priced on a grid ranging from LIBOR plus 21/ 4-23 /4%. The current revolver rate is LIBOR plus 23/ 4%, said Chad Fitzhugh, cfo. He added that investor demand warranted the structural changes. "The revolver was well subscribed," he noted. Some bank lenders reportedly piled on in hopes of developing a relationship with the company.

Owens Corning bank debt has been sparking the market over the last week with more than $70 million in trades. The paper traded into the 70s, but bids had retreated to the high 60s when LMW went to press. The bank debt surged from the mid-60s as the market digested information regarding the discussion of asbestos liability limitations.

One buy-side and one sell-side analyst predict homebuilder M.D.C. Holdings will receive an investment-grade rating from Standard & Poor's, a development that will open the door for the company's bonds to appreciate.

Patina Oil & Gas Corp. has increased the size of its revolver and enlisted five new banks to provide the extra capacity. The new $500 million, four-year facility replaces a $200 million facility that was set to expire in July. The reason for the increase is two-fold, according to David Kornder, executive v.p. and cfo. Patina is looking to use the facility to assist in funding a number of acquisitions and accommodate the larger company, he said. The company recently announced plans to acquire the remaining half of a joint venture Elysium Energy. This move comes on the back of purchasing Bravo Natural Resources and Le Norman Energy Corp. late last year.

Pilot Travel Centers has completed a $250 million credit, downsized from a proposed $355 million deal, in order to back its $190 million acquisition of Williams TravelCenters. The company originally planned a $105 million, one-year bridge loan as part of the deal, but no longer needed it because of the delay in the acquisition's closing date into this year, said Jeffrey Cornish, v.p. of finance and cfo. The postponement allowed Pilot Travel more time to complete an $85 million add-on private placement deal with J.P. Morgan, he explained, so the bridge was no longer required (LMW, 1/13). Wachovia Securities leads the new facility.

Portuguese residential mortgage-backed securitizations have been pricing and trading at tight levels thanks to investors seeking to diversify their portfolios, according to London-based MBS investors and analysts. The Portuguese RMBS market's recent deals have been priced just outside those from the well-established Dutch market. "The demand for diverisification has exceeded the demand for benchmark names," says one securitization analyst.