Friday, May 27, 2011

Sovereign Debt Default Risk

by Bespoke Investment Group

Below is a table showing default risk as measured by 5-year credit default swap prices for nearly 60 countries worldwide. As shown, default risk for Greece is by far the highest of any country shown, and 5-year CDS prices for the country are up 40% so far in 2011. Venezuela has the second highest CDS prices, but they're only up 6% year to date. Portugal and Ireland are the 3rd and 4th riskiest countries.

The countries that investors believe are least at risk of default are currently Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark. The US used to be the least at risk of default, but CDS prices here have ticked up 20% so far in 2011. US default risk is still low relative to the rest of the world, but any tick higher is something we don't want to see.




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