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About $7.5 billion of investment grade corporate bond supply hit the market for the week ended December 13, with the $3.75 billion two-tranche Verizon Wireless deal accounting for half of the flow. It looks as though the corporate bond market will end the year with close to $600 billion of debt issued, about 50% more than 1999's then-record pace of $400 billion. The weighted average credit quality for the week dropped to BBB, its lowest level in months as high yield syndicate desks rushed to bring deals into a hot market. About $3.3 billion in junk bonds were brought to market, with a high concentration ($2.5 billion) of single B names. In fact, over _ of total issuance for the yield was single B rated, the first time this year that high yield has been such a large proportion of total issuance. Total high yield issuance for the year is likely to end up around $90 billion, over 2.5 times issuance last year although still well short of 1998's record pace of $140 billion.

Adam Tashman, Merrill Lynch's senior collateralized debt obligation analyst, was recently laid off according to a structured finance executive at the firm. Tashman's official title is senior specialist in the high-yield strategy department, and he focuses almost exclusively on CDOs. He reported to Brian McManus, a first v.p in high-yield strategy who heads Merrill's CDO research. McManus declined comment. Tashman's voicemail at Merrill says that he is no longer working with the firm and calls were referred to McManus' extension. Tashman could not be reached for comment. With Tashman's departure, McManus is now the only analyst listed for CDO coverage at Merrill.

BMO Nesbitt Burns, SunTrust Bank and Scotia Capital are eyeing a mid January return for the "B" term loan for Canadian door manufacturer Premdor. The pro rata portion of the deal was oversubscribed, said Surjit Rajpal, executive managing director with BMO, but the "B" did not fly with investors post Sept. 11. "There was expectation there would be changes," Rajpal said, but lead arranger BMO decided to put the credit on ice until conditions in the loan market improved, rather than use the techniques available to make the deal more saleable, as seen on CommScope and Appleton Papers.

The Kingdom of Thailand heralded its return to the international bond markets after a four year absence, pricing a ¥35bn three tranche Samurai bond issue this week in the face of taxing market conditions. The kingdom's comeback has fuelled hopes that other borrowers, not only Asian but also international, will return to the Samurai market en masse. Early signs are encouraging, with Volkswagen (VW) and Household Finance set to launch deals early in the new year, albeit delayed from earlier this year.

Shares of Aluminium Corporation of China (Chalco), China's largest producer of alumina, made an uninspired debut in Hong Kong on Wednesday, closing little changed from the offer price on a day when the Hang Seng Index performed well. The shares closed at HK$1.39, compared with an offer price of HK$1.37. This is despite reports that the global share offering was more than 11 times subscribed. Morgan Stanley and CICC arranged the deal.

Australia With nickel prices depressed, Moody's this week downgraded two of the producers in the sector. The agency lowered the rating of Murrin Murrin Holdings (MMH) from B1 to B3 with a negative outlook and dropped Glencore Nickel's rating to B1 from Ba3.

HSBC Australia and SPI PowerNet launched successful transactions into the domestic Australian market this week, rounding off a busy end of year period. HSBC was first, debuting in the market with a A$170m five year fixed and floating rate subordinated debt issue.

The Indonesian government last Friday sold Rph3.1tr ($300m) of PT Telkom stock, signalling more positive sentiment towards some of Asia's quieter markets. In what bankers characterised as surprisingly strong demand, the deal ended up about twice the size many had hoped for and inside the low end of the indicated 4%-6% discount.

Deutsche Bank on Wednesday began premarketing the IPO of Media Nation in Hong Kong, following the positive response to the marketing of Clear Media to both institutional and retail accounts. Media Nation, like Clear Media, is an outdoor media company operating in China. It was launched a decade ago in Beijing and sells outdoor advertising space in Hong Kong and on the mainland. The company has exclusive rights to sell the advertising space within the Beijing and Shanghai metro systems, as well as other outdoor venues.

LG Card Co, the largest player in South Korea's booming credit card market, this week launched its first international securitisation. The $500m deal, lead managed by Credit Suisse First Boston and UBS Warburg, was wrapped by triple-A rated monoline insurer Financial Security Assurance and placed with about 20 investors worldwide.