Thanksgiving Day break deadens markets; Foodmaker bonds climb on equity news.

Friday's high-yield and high-grade corporate bond markets barely budget as the post-Thanksgiving Day holiday thinned syndicate desks and trading floors.

"It's boring," one high-yield trader said. Another ramarked, "We gave a party and no one showed up. There's nothing going on."

Footmaker Inc. bonds two-to-three point rise from Wednesday provided the high-yield market a small highlight.

On Wednesday the company announced plans for an equity offering sending its 12 3/4s of 1996 up to to three points to 105 bid and the 14 1/4s of 1998 up two to three points to 107 1/2 bid.

"Other than that the market is very quiet," the trader said.

The high-grade market was also dead.

"The market opened and closed. Nothing happened," one high-grade trader said. "That's all she wrote," he added.

This week's high-grade menu is believed to include Southern California Edison Co.'s $200 million of debt dut 2003.

Originally scheduled for last week, the deal is expected to be done through competitive bidding.

Also on Friday, Ford Motor Co. filed a shelf registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission for up to $1 billion. The company did not name underwriters.

In ratings actions earlier in the week, Standard & Poor's Corp. said the CCC-plus rating on Calmar Inc.'s $150 million of subordinated discount notes remains on CreditWatch, but the implications have been reversed to negative.

The notes were palced on CreditWatch on Nov. 8 after an announcement of an equity infusion totaling $34 million and a refinancing program. The agency revised the implications from positive to negative because of its concern that the proposed refinancing will be hard to achieve, making for a weak credit profile. Calmar's implied senior debt rating is B. As of last Sept. 8, the company's total indebtedness was about $219 million.

If the planned refinancing -- including a $75 million private placement of senior secured fixed-rate notes -- succeeds, Standard & Poor's will give a B rating to the company's proposed new senior debt, and will affirm ratings on the company's subordinated discount notes.

"Calmar has a good market position in the plastic-pump sprayer and dispenser industry," a Standard & Poor's release said. "Prospects for earnings growth in the U.S. and Europe benefit from continued conversions to pump sprayers, away from environmentally hazardous aerosol spray propellants."

The agency cautioned, however, that "Even with the current recapitalization program, the firm remains vulnerable to soft economic conditions, and to markets which may mature sooner than anticipated."

Fitch Investors Service Inc. assigned an AA rating to Ryland Mortgage Securities Corp. Boston Safe Deposit Trust 1991-1's $108.5 million of mortgage participation securities.

"The rating reflects the excellent quality of the mortgage loans, credit loss protection provided by the 5% PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. mortgage pool insurance policy, and Fitch's confidence in the integrity of the legal and financial structures," the agency said in a release.

According to Fitch, the pool is made up of conventional one-to-four family, fully amortizing adjustable rate mortgage loans secured by first liens on residential property.

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