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UBS Warburg has repackaged a U.S. dollar bond into a Singapore dollar-denominated bond through a special purpose vehicle for the first time. The firm executed the transaction to give Singapore-based investors, who could not use derivatives or did not want to tie up derivatives lines, access to the OCBC Bank bond. "This is the first deal of this type we've done in Singapore," said Michael Pieri, director of local currency fixed income trading in Singapore. While UBS has executed similar transactions in U.S. dollar instruments, it has not entered this type of deal in Singapore before because the market is relatively new. He added that it has had the capability to pull the trigger on similar transactions for several months but investors could not agree on which bond to swap. Other candidates included Ford Motor Credit's global offerings, but some investors did not want exposure to the auto sector.

Westdeutsche Landesbank is beefing up its precious metals trading team in London. Michael Bushman, formerly at first-e, an Internet bank which has closed its U.K. portal and previously a market maker in gold options at UBS Warburg, starts next month in the new position of head of precious metals options trading. Bushman was on gardening leave and could not be reached.

Conning Asset Management is buying mortgage-backed bonds, both pass-throughs and collateralized mortgage obligations, on the view that credit deterioration and a historically steep yield curve will continue to help the sector outperform. Karen Kelleher, portfolio manager who oversees $1 billion in the firms $30 billion fixed-income portfolio, says the firm has moved away from investment-grade corporates (the firm's traditional asset of choice) and purchased Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pass-throughs in the 6-6.5% sector of the coupon stack. She has also been buying 10-year original life PAC CMOs, backed by conventional 6-6.5% collateral, believing that the negatively convex structure will protect from extension risk. The moves have been financed with cash from MBS that prepays, as well as from the sales of shorter average life CMOs. Kelleher says she might purchase an additional $40 million or so of MBS, should the curve stay in this range, bringing the firm roughly in line with the MBS weighting of the Lehman Brothers aggregate index.

As volatility has increased since Sept.11, Jim Cusser, portfolio manager with Waddell & Reed Investment, has been buying negative convexity bonds, such as callable agencies and pass-through mortgages, on the assumption that volatility will pull back to more normal levels. Cusser says he has been buying $20 million in callable agencies and $30 million in mortgage-backed passthroughs for the past two weeks, representing a 7%, or $49 million, of its portfolio. He says he has done most of his move, although he may add an additional 1.5-2.0%, or $10-20 million more. The move was financed using new cash inflows.

Early this month Dutch officials said that a man had bought two bags of fish food with a euro banknote three months before the official introduction of single currency notes and coins. According to Reuters, the shopkeeper who accepted the money was quoted as saying he knew the note was not legal tender but accepted it because he thought it was "fun." Talk about a free-for-all.

David Killian, portfolio manager with Stone Ridge Investment Partners, says his firm will reallocate 8%, or $14 million of its portfolio, out of Treasuries into both mortgage-backed securities and corporates as soon as he sees evidence of an economic rebound. He anticipates that the move will be done early next year, triggered by jobless claims leveling off, a slight pick-up in manufacturing orders and a rise in consumer confidence.

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.

Deutsche Bank's asset-backed securities group has hired Bill Yeung as an ABS structurer, specializing in structuring ABS transactions, particularly home equity bonds, says Richard d'Albert, who heads the group in New York. Yeung, who last worked for Nomura Securities International in New York, fills a newly created slot, says d'Albert, although he declined to comment on additional hires.

Enron is in talks with its bank group and may make changes to its capital structure in order to resolve issues regarding the long-term liquidity of the company, after a nightmare week in which Enron's common stock price has plummeted and spreads on its debt widened. One banker said it is very likely that Enron will look to change the capital structure of its debt by issuing notes or offering equity. "It would be unusual for an investment-grade company like Enron to have such a large drawn-down credit facility," a banker said, explaining the company may need other sources of capital. It is still uncertain how Enron's situation will affect the sector, she added, though Enron is still an investment grade company and should have no problems tapping the markets.

A senior executive involved with BondBook, the dealer-owned online corporate bond trading platform, says the company will likely shut its doors by the middle of November. Layoffs of its approximately 100 employees are slated to begin soon, he says. He attributes the decision to a series of meetings held in mid-September, during which the company's dealer owners began to express misgivings about continuing to fund the venture in a post-Sept. 11 landscape. BondBook has been hurt by the well-documented liquidity problems in the corporate bond market, but its $3 million monthly cash burn rate is more to blame, according to the executive, who was involved in the technological development of the company. He continues that when dealers are visibly reducing headcount by up to 20% in some instances, it is difficult to ask them to continue to invest in a "continuing cost-center."

TD Securities, Credit Suisse First Boston, Bank of New York and J.P. Morgan are looking to complete a club-style syndication for a $300 million, delayed-draw term loan add-on for American Tower and TD is also seeking commitments to expand the existing facility of its Mexican subsidiary, American Tower de Mexico. Ann Alter, spokeswoman, said American Tower has an option to increase its current $2 billion in credit facilities by a further $500 million. The delayed-draw term loan provides the option to use the cash, but it may not necessarily be tapped, Alter said.