CDS ratings
From this Bloomberg article, I thought it would be interesting to see a list of companies with their CDS prices, which shows how the market is pricing their relative risk to a debt default.
Markit LCDX index | 84.50 % | Leveraged US loans. |
GM | 67.00 % | |
AIG | 42.00 % | Upfront, plus 5 % per year to protect 100 %. |
Citadel Investment Group |
30.00 % | A hedge fund. |
Markit iTraxx Crossover Index | 8.75 % | Mostly European high-yield, high-risk companies. |
Contracts on Peabody Energy | 6.40 % | Largest US coal miner. |
New York Times | 6.00 % | |
Renault | 5.25 % | |
Peugeot | 5.10 % | |
Volvo | 4.59 % | |
Alcoa | 2.25 % | |
UPS | 2.25 % | |
Bayer | 1.34 % |
In other words, if I wanted to insure $10 million of General Motor’s debt, I would have to pay upfront $6.7 million, plus a yearly premium, in the order of $800,000.