Oil And Gas Exploration Groups Are At Risk Of Default

Oil And Gas Exploration Groups Are At Risk Of Default by Lisa Hamilton, IEEFA.org.

U.S. corporate bond issuances hit a record high this month and are on pace to beat 2014 levels, when corporate bond sales totaled $1.5 trillion.

Question: What is this happening?

Answer: Corporate issuers are availing themselves of low interest rates.

Part of the reason corporate debt markets have boomed over the past six years or so is that investors have been searching aggressively for yield, and have been willing to take on more risk—even for deals with near junk-bond ratings—to get far better returns than they’d realize, on say, Treasury bonds.

Many analysts see a bond bubble forming, however, and these concerns may be especially justified for bonds...