Bear Stearns Index up 1.46% in week, back in black YTD

By Peter Heap

New York, Oct. 19 - The Bear Stearns High Yield Index gained 1.46% in the week ended Oct. 18, pushing the year-to-date performance back into positive territory with a return of 1.32% for 2001 so far. The positive return was the second consecutive week in the black after three weeks of losses following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The index has been showing gains for most of the year but sizable losses after the atrocities in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania reversed that.

The latest index figures show a yield to worst of 14.02%, noticeably better than 14.32% the previous week, and a spread to worst of 996 basis points, in from 1,015 basis points previously.

Overall the index covered 1,406 issues with a market value of $285.92 billion compared with 1,408 issues valued at $282.58 billion previously.

By broad sectors, the best performing group on the week was telecommunications, up 6.01%. However this category remains by far the worst on a year-to-date basis with a return of negative 34.02%. As an indication of how badly it has lagged, the second worst performing of the 11 broad group is transportation, which has lost 8.61%. Telecommunications was also the bottom sector for the three previous weeks.

The previous week's best performer was media, largely on the strength of a big gain in its international cable component.

Year-to-date, the top-placed category is consumer non-cyclicals, with a return of 25.70%.

On the downside, the weakest group in the most recent week was basic materials, which shed 0.19%. The only other of the 11 broad sectors to lose ground was finance which was off 0.01%.

Looking at narrow industry classifications, the Bear Stearns index shows paging and messaging as the strongest performer, gaining 15.33%. However it is still down 89.92% year to date, the worst placed group.

Second strongest was the competitive local exchange carriers, like paging and messaging a component of telecommunications. They gained 14.52% in the week although they are still off 49.75% for the year so far.

Among the decliners, metals, part of basic material, was the worst, losing 3.49% in the week for a return for 2001 through Oct. 18 of negative 0.19%.

End

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