Distressed-debt: One day my price will come

You almost have to feel a little sorry for distressed-debt investors in this cycle (but only almost). At the onset of the crisis in 2007, piling into a distressed-debt opportunity fund seemed like a no-brainer. But even as the securitized and leveraged finance markets collapsed, creative mark-to-market accounting enabled many banks to hold on to their troubled assets rather than being forced to sell them to asset-hungry buyers. These buyers must have been hoping that their patience would be rewarded in 2009 when many balance sheets looked as if they might finally yield up some ripe opportunities.