Moody's has cut Spanish sovereign debt to just a notch above junk status, on a par with Azerbaijan.

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The release of Maps was a very different decision: as above, the release of a decidedly sub-par product for strategic reasons.

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Take the 10-year US Treasuries, for instance, which trades 20 percent above par, at a historically low yield of near 2 percent.

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The willingness to take a chance on blemished credits pushed below-investment grade securities above par value for the first time since before the financial crisis, up from a nadir of 55 cents on the dollar in December of 2008, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

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But the elevations of John Thain (Bank of America-Merrill Lynch) and, above all, Sir Win Bischoff, chairman of Citigroup and a City grandee par excellence, epitomise the prevailing mood of prudence at the expense of risk.

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Sean Greene assured me that none of this will cost taxpayers a dime, because the government simply guarantees loans 10-year maturity bonds raised from private investors at rates slightly above par.

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