It is now a year since the jitters in US sub-prime turned into an earthquake that engulfed the securitization market. Asset valuations have been falling pretty much consistently ever since. If ever there was a distressed buyers’ opportunity, the ABS market is it – it is hard to argue that a triple-A rated security trading at a double-digit discount to par is anything other than a screaming buy.
But buyers remain extremely nervous about stepping in. This is partly because of a lingering concern that the market could take another lurch downwards on more bad news. Yes, the downgrade of MBIA to single-A...
