Use Natural Language Searches To Find Bonds, Analyze Relative Value, And Identify Liquidity

THE CREDIT OUTLOOK for most energy companies started improving in November thanks to rising oil prices, declining inventories and accelerating economic recovery around the world.

- STEVEN GEE, RYAN FISHBEIN, and MOHAMED MAHAMUD

Energy bonds rallied dramatically vs. other sectors and remain a focus for market participants. This year through July 30, energy was the third-most actively traded sector, after financials and consumer discretionary, according to data compiled on the Trace Market Flow (TFLO) function.

The Federal Reserve’s controversial tolerance of “transitory” inflation hasn’t dented the appetite for corporate debt. Investors in June pushed the Bloomberg Barclays Corporate Index’s option-adjusted spread vs. Treasuries to the lowest levels since 2005. That makes it difficult for credit investors to find attractive value.

If you’ve been wondering whether energy bond spreads can tighten further, use Bloomberg analytical workflows to gain some insight. Tap the recently enhanced natural-language-processing capabilities of the Fixed Income Search (SRCH) tool to identify bonds that fit your investment or trading criteria. Leverage Fixed Income Worksheet (FIW) to analyze these bonds or to perform relative value analysis on your select portfolio. (This article is the 13th in a continuing series highlighting FIW. For links to the others, run {NSN QS86W6DWRGG4 }.)