, Columnist
No Hiding From Debt Slump
Weakness extends to other sectors such as technology, media and consumer products.
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Many investors blame the escalating weakness in corporate credit on falling commodity prices. But that’s only one piece of the story, one that ignores a collapsing credit cycle amid a much broader global slowdown.
Standard & Poor’s said on Tuesday that the outlook for corporate borrowers worldwide was the worst since the global financial crisis, with potential corporate downgrades outpacing possible upgrades by the most since 2009. This has been attributed largely to slower growth in China and a commodity rout that’s cut prices to the lowest since 1999.