Seeking Alpha Seeking Alpha Portfolio App for iPad  Markets are
undergoing a lot of changes in traditional relationships right
now. For example, Barron’s reports that corporates are the new
Treasurys:  U.S. government debt is priced in the credit-default
swap (CDS) market as having a higher-default risk than 22% of
investment-grade corporate bonds. This means the CDS market,
which influences the prices of corporate bonds, stocks, and the
implied volatility of equity options, perceives Treasuries to be
riskier than bonds issued by companies including Coca-Cola (KO),
Oracle (ORCL) and Texas Instruments (TXN).  “This suggests
corporates are the new sovereigns,” Thomas Lee, J.P. Morgan’s
equity strategist, advised clients in a research note late last
week, referring to corporate debt.  The phenomenon is also
evident in Europe. J.P. Morgan’s Lee notes that 100% of
corporate-debt issuers in Spain, Greece, and Portugal trade
inside their government CDS spreads, while 60% of Italian
corporate bonds trade inside that