, Columnist
Wanted: Asian Bond Skepticism
Record junk sales sit uncomfortably with expectations of three U.S. rate increases this year.
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Asian bond investors could use a healthy dose of skepticism.
Junk-rated dollar debt in the region looks too good to be true. The first quarter hasn't even finished and non-financial corporations ranked below investment grade by Moody's Investors Service or Fitch Ratings have sold a record amount of securities. That's happened even as U.S. Treasury yields enter territory that billionaire bond investor Bill Gross says marks the beginning of a bear market -- and after the Federal Reserve raised rates earlier than analysts originally predicted.