Hong Kong
AS A ROUT in Chinese stocks this year erased US$5 trillion of value, investors fled for safety in the nation's red-hot corporate bond market. They may have just moved from one bubble to another.
So says Commerzbank AG, which puts the chances of a crash by year-end at 20 per cent - up from almost zero in June. Industrial Securities Co and Huachuang Securities Co are warning of an unsustainable rally after bond prices climbed to six-year highs and issuance jumped to a record. The boom contrasts with caution elsewhere. A selloff in global corporate notes has pushed yields to a 21-month high, and credit-derivatives traders are demanding near the most in two years to insure against losses...