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With a further $4 billion of investment-grade deals being launched this week, the primary market continues to print at a much healthier pace than was seen during October. Month-to-date volume of over $12 billion puts us well on target to print $25-30 billion before the quieter holiday period descends. The high-yield sector has also seen good volumes with $1.5 billion issued this week. The four-week moving average deal size is creeping up from the lows as the week saw the launch of three billion dollar deals and the increase in risk appetite is also evident in the average rating falling back toward the single-A level.

Credit Suisse First Boston has priced the notes for Barclays Capital Asset Management's Venture CDO II, allowing at least one manager to leave the pipeline and start ramping up assets. The cash-flow arbitrage vehicle is a $250 million collateralized loan obligation, said a banker. The liabilities priced within the current range, which is somewhere south of LIBOR plus 58 basis points on triple-A's, he said. Though the triple-B tranche is small at $12.25 million, he said the overall structure is reasonably standard. "One of the goals is to maximize the size of the triple-A tranche, as this is the least expensive debt," he noted. The equity piece for the deal is $23.75 million.

John Leupp has been released from his position as an analyst covering gaming at Credit Suisse First Boston, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. Leupp could not be reached, and Tom Klamka, co-head of high-yield research at CSFB, did not return calls. It could not be determined whether the firm plans to replace him.

EDO Corp., a New York-based supplier of engineered products for use in the defense and space industries, has snared a new $140 million credit line that arms the company for an acquisition spree. "EDO has already acquired a number of companies using cash on hand, but with the interest-rate environment, we thought it was an appropriate time to put in place the line," said William Frost, v.p., of administration for EDO.

The commitment date on Deutsche Bank's and Wells Fargo Bank's $275 million credit for Veritas DGC has been extended beyond its initial Nov. 15 cut-off date, said a banker familiar with the credit. There are some commitments in, but the banker would not divulge specific lender names or the level of commitments. "Time will tell," he said of how well the credit will perform. One buysider said a price increase or other concessions would be required to fill the deal. "It's a buyer's market right now," he joyfully noted. A banker at Wells Fargo did not return calls, while a banker at Deutsche Bank declined comment.

R.H. Donnelley's $1.55 billion credit, led by Deutsche Bank, Bear Stearns and Salomon Smith Barney, has picked up at least $200 million in commitments on the $850 million "B" piece after a Nov. 7 bank meeting, said a banker familiar with the deal. Pricing on the "B" tranche is LIBOR plus 4%, while the spread on the $125 million revolver and the $575 million "A" loan is LIBOR plus 31/ 2%. Bankers on the deal either declined comment or did not return calls.

Traders last week were buzzing about an auction of $75 million of Mirant bank debt that was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but by the end of the day most doubted it ever took place. Dealers said they heard an unnamed seller was looking to offload the paper early in the day, but by afternoon noise surrounding the auction had stopped. Several traders noted that the paper did not change hands, and some even said that the auction was not real. "My view is that it was totally false," noted one trader.

European managers seem to be finally catching on to the leveraged loan concept, with approximately nine collateralized loan obligations in the pipeline scheduled for late 2002 or early 2003, including a debut 100% European-loans only deal for Prudential M&G. But this vanguard of managers all looking to launch deals is raising concerns over the amount of collateral available in the market. "Supply is definitely an issue," said Anjali Bastianpillai, associate director of Standard & Poor's structured finance group. "A lot of deals may have the same collateral and so it is difficult to gain diversity," she said.

Allied Waste Industries' bank debt traded up after the company announced that it was able to quickly secure $300 million of senior notes. The proceeds from the transaction will go to pay down Allied Waste's term loans ratably. The news gave the company's term loan "B" a mild boost and traders said the paper was changing hands in the 98-98 1/2 context up from the 97 range. The new notes bear a coupon of 91/ 4%. Questions to Thomas Ryan, cfo, were referred to a spokesman, who did not return calls.

MobileOne (M1), Singapore's second largest cellular operator, last Monday confirmed plans for an IPO that could raise up to S$1.06bn and value the company at up to S$1.51bn. Given the weakness of the Singapore economy and the high penetration rate of wireless operators (and therefore limited subscriber growth potential), the ambitious IPO is being offered at what many bankers consider reasonable valuations.

Petroliam Nasional (Petronas) built on its reputation as one of Asia's savviest borrowers when it rapidly re-opened two of its outstanding 144A bonds for a total of $950m yesterday (Thursday). With investor demand on the rise again and secondary markets looking stable, the Baa1/BBB+ rated borrower took advantage of strong liquidity and raised more funding while it could.

The Asian debt market continues to fire on all cylinders in the run-up to the traditional seasonal close of the markets towards the end of the year. Petroliam Nasional is heading the spate of new deals (see separate story) and the Republic of the Philippines is poised to follow with a $500m 10 year two month issue today (Friday). The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim) is looking to launch a $500m five year deal next week, and a set of smaller deals are still expected before the end of the year.