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Unilever successfully navigated one of the most volatile weeks seen in the bond market all year to price yesterday (Thursday) its long awaited $7bn multi-tranche global transaction, which was seen by syndicate officials and investors as a key test of the market’s health.

Unilever successfully navigated one of the most volatile weeks seen in the bond market all year to price yesterday (Thursday) its long awaited $7bn multi-tranche global transaction, which was seen by syndicate officials and investors as a key test of the market’s health.

Bank One has won the mandate to arrange a £125m 364 day revolving credit facility for Cattles plc. The deal will be launched into syndication next week. Proceeds are for general corporate purposes.

Brazil is hoping for a Standard & Poor's upgrade before it has to raise a final amount of at least $800m in the international capital markets this year. Moody's raised Brazil's foreign currency rating to B1 from B2 this week and took its local currency rating up two notches to B1. The market barely reacted, however, noting that the action by Moody's simply brings its rating in line with the current B+ rating from S&P.

Globals * Freddie Mac

* Alliance & Leicester Group Treasury plc Guarantor: Alliance & Leicester plc

Premarketing began this week for the Eu1.5bn IPO of Telekom Austria, with investors unanimous in their opinion that the company will have to be priced cheaply if its is to get away in the current climate for telecoms stocks. The Merrill Lynch and CAIB led deal is being compared to similar sized incumbents such PT, Swisscom and Eircom.

A ballooning of its spreads has sent the Republic of Argentina on a quest for alternative sources of funding to the international bond market, including more domestic bond issuance and possibly even an international syndicated loan. "We know that the markets are going through much turbulence, so we are thinking of some other means of dealing with it," said Daniel Marx, Argentina's finance secretary.

A ballooning of its spreads has sent the Republic of Argentina on a quest for alternative sources of funding to the international bond market, including more domestic bond issuance and possibly even an international syndicated loan. "We know that the markets are going through much turbulence, so we are thinking of some other means of dealing with it," said Daniel Marx, Argentina's finance secretary.

Warburg Dillon Read (WDR) announced the launch of its on-line trading system for Euro-MTNs yesterday, the first of its kind in the market. This virtual market place will provide real time pricing and information for over 400 investment grade issuers and institutional investors. Only levels for vanilla trades are shown on screen, although a second phase of development with increased features is set for January 2000. And Gavin Eddy, executive director at WDR claims the format has endless possibilities. WDR also began on-line trading in Euro-CP in April this year. Eddy says: "On-line trading will fundamentally change the way business is done in Euro-MTNs and WDR intends to establish itself as the leading investment bank for innovative technology."

Despite looking into the abyss on Wednesday, when stock markets looked set to plunge the financial world into a desperate October to match those of the Russian and Asian crises, fixed income players can look forward to the coming week with a hint of optimism. On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened sharply lower, hitting levels not reached since March 1999. Depressed by earnings warnings and missed forecasts from both old and new economy stocks, and few signs of peace in the Middle East, investors panicked.

France Franco-Italian food company Eridania Béghin-Say (EBS) has mandated BCI and Deutsche Bank to arrange a Eu400m revolver.