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Henderson Global Investors has shifted out of U.S. government bonds and is looking to add new issuance in the single-A and triple-B range. "We're beginning to think about more single-A and triple-B names, but there is still a lot of pain out there," said Peter Moore, portfolio manager. He says the firm added the recent Rentokil (BBB) and Marks & Spencer (A3) issues to take advantage of companies being forced to fund despite wide spreads. Rentokil priced last Wednesday at 145 basis points over gilds. The firm sold off its U.S. govvie positions in its £37 billion global bond portfolio, because spreads on triple-A credits were too tight and it is looking elsewhere for value. Henderson's global portfolio has roughly 25% in non-U.K. assets, 33% in European assets and 42% in U.K. assets.

One savvy novice bank debt trader traveling on the number six subway train knew better than to let a pesky journalist peek over at his notes last Thursday morning. Eyeing the suspicious character checking out the fact file which explained how a trader should: 1) know the full value of the company, 2) be aware of the fundamentals and 3) check out the 8-K's, the young gun promptly stood up and turned his back on the journalist, hiding the key info. Curses. foiled again.

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 in the coming month. It is designed to provide a look at potentially available money in the market as credits are renewed or retired.

Taplin, Canida, & Habacht, a Miami, Fla.-based money manager with some $4.5 billion in taxable fixed-income under management, has been selling five- to 10-year bonds of financial and supermarket companies in order to buy 10- to 30-year new corporate issues. Portfolio manager William Canida says the firm has been buying new retail food paper and new and secondary auto company debt. He says the firm has traded some $300 million in the past month, and may look to swap another $150 million if it continues to see new issuance in triple-B names in cyclical sectors such as autos, which must come at a heavy concession in the current tight credit environment. Canida says there is nothing on the new issue calendar that the firm is eyeing aggressively at the moment, and he says it has probably finished adding to autos in the secondary market.

Andrew Stotland has left Amroc Investments for Samco Capital Markets to source bank debt and bonds. Samco opened an office near Penn Station last year, and is a brokerage house based out of Dallas. It focuses on bank debt and bonds but also does some work in equities. Stotland reports to Scott Siemers, senior managing director.

Credit Suisse First Boston has laid off a number of junior high-yield analysts, according to a senior fixed-income official at the firm. The official would not elaborate, but several research and trading officials at rival firms independently place the number at between two and five, and say the focus is on the telecom group, which is led by co-head of junk research Mark Grotevant. Analysts from that group had been querying rival firms several weeks ago amid concerns that layoffs were imminent, according to one high-yield head of research. A buy-side analyst says cuts to the telecom group make sense, since Grotevant assumed wireless coverage after analyst Drew Hanson left for Morgan Stanley (BW, 9/10), and the wireline sector has been so dismal that it may make sense to essentially drop coverage in that area. Nonetheless, the buy-side analyst says the layoffs are striking, given that CSFB was arguably the top telecom high-yield player only a short time ago. Repeated calls to Grotevant and Tom Klamka, the other co-head of research, were not returned.

Deutsche Bank has added two new functions to its DBIQ platform, its online fixed-income analytical tool, which it plans to link into its trading system next year. The goal is to permit clients to analyze potential trades vis-à-vis their current portfolios and then execute the trade online, according to Fergus Lynch, global head of index development in London. He says the link should be completed some time next year.

A battle royale is heating up to provide a $2.75 billion bridge loan to EchoStar Communications to finance the Hughes Electronics acquisition from General Motors for $24.6 billion in cash and stock as a number of banks that advised the counterparties are now free to bid for the business. GM is actively seeking one or two banks to provide the loan after UBS Warburg did not provide its part of a $5.5 billion bridge loan with Deutsche Bank, despite advising EchoStar on the merger.

The bank debt of Exide Technologies has dropped 20 points over the last two weeks on news of the need for covenant relief. In a series of small trades, the credit has dropped from the low 80s in mid-October to the low-60s as of late last week. Dealers estimate the trades were made in $5 million chunks and totaled between $10-20 million, but buyers and sellers could not be determined.

Fleet Capital last week wrapped up a $200 million refinancing for Weirton Steel. Fleet is the agent and Foothill Capital is syndication agent. Phil Margolis, spokesman for Fleet, said CIT Group and GMAC Business Credit are the co-documentation agents for the facility, while Transamerica Business Capital is a lender. The three-year, asset-based facility is priced at LIBOR plus 3 1Ž4 %, and replaces a $100 million revolver led by Bank of America, according to Capital DATA Loanware. Margolis was unable to confirm that Weirton switched lenders and calls to Rick Garan, assistant treasurer were not returned. The asset-based facility enables Weirton to more effectively borrow against accounts receivable and inventory, attaining additional availability, and enabling a restructuring plan, explained Margolis.

Harris Nesbitt is ramping up its asset-based lending capabilities by extending its branch network with the opening of an office in Los Angeles and is eyeing offices in New York and Boston. Kevin Delaplane, senior v.p., and managing director, said the asset-based lending operation is a national business and Harris wants to put people on the ground to supplement relationships. "This is a growth business for Harris, with 20-30% expansion in the last two years," Delaplane added, noting Harris expects to continue at this level of increase, though he could not provide figures for a balance sheet increase. There is no timeframe for the further rollout and no specific numbers for the amount of people targeted, he said. Offices have also been opened in Detroit and Atlanta, as part of the national rollout program.