Financial markets: Whistling in the dark

There are still plenty of shadows looming over the stockmarket ALWAYS look on the bright side of life. Equity investors must have been humming the Monty Python classic last month. In the 14 trading days to March 27th, the S&P 500 index jumped 21%, the steepest rally since 1938. But while stockmarkets were celebrating, the corporate-bond market saw 35 defaults, the largest number of non-payers in a single month since the Depression, according to Moody’s. The default rate is now 7%, up from 1.5% a year ago, and the rating agency predicts that it will reach 14.6% by the fourth quarter. ... (link)