In Brief: Loan Prices Recover In Secondary Market

In brisk trading, prices for some key loans in the secondary market have rebounded to near face value, according to loan traders.

Three leveraged loans to Stryker Corp., Superior Telecom Inc., and SPX Corp. were all trading at or above par for the first time since the late- summer global financial crisis. The loans are some of the largest in the market, worth a combined $4 billion.

The turnaround is welcome news to the secondary loan market. In November, prices averaged 97.90% of par, down from 99.34% in August, according to the Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette Leveraged Loan Index.

Traders credited the trading rally to increased demand and inflows into collateralized loan and bond obligations. "There's clearly more CLO and CBO money on-line," said Mike Dinatelli, a trader with Goldman Sachs & Co.

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