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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.

Several fixed-income clients of Standish Ayer & Wood, citing poor performance due to an overweight to corporate bonds in its active core and core-plus bond strategies, are ending their relationships with the manager, according to BW sister publication Money Management Letter. The City of Austin Employees Retirement System and the Baltimore County Employees Retirement System, both recently indicated that they will be ending the relationship with the manager on the core-plus and active core bond mandates, worth roughly $220 million and $225 million, respectively. And most recently, the Anchorage (Ark.) Police and Fire Retirement Board terminated the manager from its $40 million fixed-income account and consolidated the funds with a $90 million account managed by incumbent manager Columbia Management. Additionally, the manager was let go last March by the Maine State Retirement System's bond account, a mandate valued at some $200 million. Calls placed to Thomas Sorbo, sales director at Standish Ayer & Wood in Boston, were not returned by press time.

APS Asset Management has been swapping out of Treasuries and agencies and into low investment-grade corporates, which currently show spreads far above historical norms. Chris Caputo, head of a $300 million taxable fixed-income portfolio, points in particular to spreads on the intermediate-maturity paper of such retailers as J.C. Penney (Baa3/BBB-) and Sears Roebuck (A3/A-), which at one point late last year were 600 to 1,000 basis points over Treasuries. Even today, he says, they trade at 90-120 basis points over the curve, roughly double their historical average. "They're screaming to be bought," he says.

Taplin, Canida & Habacht is buying lower-quality investment-grade corporates which it believes are set for a big rally now that a recession no longer appears imminent and the Federal Reserve is in an easing mode. William Canida, a partner who helps oversee $4 billion in taxable-fixed income, says the corporates that were most susceptible to an economic downturn, such as BBB rated credits and autos and other cyclical paper, will benefit most as the economy starts moving 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.

Reinhart, Mahoney & Bryden Capital Management recently completed a re-allocation program, and will sit on the sidelines until the Federal Reserve completes its easing cycle, according to portfolio manager Jeff Bryden. In the interim, the fund is putting new money into Treasuries to maintain a neutral duration. In December it added $70 million worth of high-grade bank and captive finance paper exposure in order to benefit from the Fed rate cuts, $70 million worth of short-term asset-backed securities because they have less credit exposure than corporate bonds, and $35 million worth of Treasuries.

Standard & Poor's downgraded Vlasic Foods International's subordinated debt rating to DD from CC last week after the company announced it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Kenneth Drucker, director in the corporate ratings group, said the downgrade was automatic on the heels of the announcement. He said ultimately the problem was the company had too much debt and too little income to offset it. "They weren't able to grow their business fast enough," he said. A spokesman for the Cherry Hill, N.J.-based company did not return calls for comment.

W.R. Grace & Co., a Columbia, Md.-based chemical producer, which is considering reorganizing under the Bankruptcy Code is up for renewal of its bank credit line this May but may have to go another route, said Francine Gilbert, director of investor relations. "We are currently negotiating with our bank. There is a renewal risk because of the asbestos litigation. We will look to other alternative sources, such as foreign banks," Gilbert said.

Xerox Corp.'s paper was quoted up late last week to the 61-62 range, as dealers said the name was riding on the climate of a better market. Dealers were split on whether the name would be getting any play in the near future. One dealer speculated that there would be trades if levels notch up slightly. "If I had to guess, it will trade at 64-65," he said. "The whole market is stronger; it's a go-go name. The bonds and stocks are up." But another trader disagreed, calling Xerox's bank debt "a dead issue" and predicted that there would be no trades even at that elevated level. A spokesman for the company has said the company will not comment bank debt trades.

Goldman Sachs & Co. is in the market with a $205 million, two-year deal for Granite Broadcasting Corporation, a credit the firm reportedly picked up after the company's incumbent leads backed away. A banker close to the deal said the Goldman took the lead after Deutsche Bank and Bank of New York passed on it because the banks had concerns regarding the broadcast company's debt profile. Goldman Sachs declined to comment. Officials at Deutsche Bank and Bank of New York did not return calls. Officials at Granite Broadcasting did not return calls.