" The larger domestic debt market — at around $41 trillion for the bond market alone — reveals more about our nation’s financial health. And right now, the debt market is broadcasting a dangerous message: Investors, desperate for debt instruments that pay high interest, have been overpaying for riskier and riskier obligations. University endowments, pension funds, mutual funds and hedge funds have been pouring money into the bond market with little concern that bonds can be every bit as dangerous to own as stocks. The prices of bonds (and corporate loans) have not accurately reflected the riskiness of the underlying borrower’s credit. Until recently, investors have been paying higher prices for the debt of riskier companies and not getting properly compensated for that risk."
At www.nytimes.com
