Credit Spectrum Mastery
From AAA to default — what happens to bonds as credit quality shifts
⏱ ~80 min · 7 steps
The difference between IG and HY, how spreads price risk, how CACs enable restructuring — anchored by two landmark deals spanning crisis and recovery.
Learning Sequence
- 1🎓 Market 101
Investment Grade
What investment grade (BBB- and above) means — rating methodologies, investor base differences, and what drives IG spreads.
Read → - 2🎓 Market 101
High Yield
Below investment grade — why HY demands wider spreads, which investors participate, and what risks are embedded.
Read → - 3🎓 Market 101
Spread & Basis
Spread is not just a number — it's a real-time gauge of market fear and greed. Learn what drives spread widening and tightening.
Read → - 4🎓 Market 101
Reach for Yield
How low-rate environments push investors into riskier assets — and the market distortions this creates.
Read → - 5🎓 Market 101
CAC (Collective Action Clause)
How CACs (Collective Action Clauses) enable sovereign debt restructuring by preventing holdout creditors from blocking deals.
Read → - 6📊 Market Story
Korea 1998 External Bond — From Crisis to Markets
The emerging-market credit crisis playbook — how Korea issued sovereign bonds under extreme spread pressure and what it signals about market access.
Read → - 7📊 Market Story
Credit Suisse AT1 Write-Down (2023) — The Capital Hierarchy Inverted
A developed-market credit crisis — what the overnight write-down of IG-rated AT1 bonds teaches us about credit spectrum extremes.
Read →