Customer Reviews

Investing in Junk Bonds: Inside the High Yield Debt Market

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Given that high yield bonds make up fully 25% of U.S. public corporate debt, and 19% of European corporate debt, you'd think there's be more and better books written on the subject.

Think again.

The best material on high yield bonds is written by the underwriters and research departments of large investment banks. It is a market of closed information. Why?

Fees for issuance of a high yield bond are higher than equity IPO fees. Load fees for investing in a high yield bond funds are higher than other fixed income funds.

Nevertheless, this is an indispensable book for those who wish to enter this last bastion and clubby private world of finance: the small, high stakes high yield bond market.

But it desperately needs an update.

Amazon represents this book as fairly recent. Under the title it has the date Dec 2002. Nowhere does it say that the book was actually copyrighted in 1987. It was reprinted in 2002 but not updated. Further the information in this book only goes through 1985! Therefore the material is very outdated. While some of the principles outlined in the book may still be relevant, it is not backed up by recent data.

In addition, the price for this book is outrageous considering the above.

(Note: Three weeks later, Amazon still is misrepresenting the date of the book.
8-11-10)