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Good news for the bond market: The default rate for junk bonds fell last month for the first time since October 2007.
Four bond issuers failed to make good on their debt payments last month, bringing the total for 2009 defaults to 189, according to Standard & Poor’s. That meant a junk-bond default rate of 10.9 percent in December, down from 11.3 percent the prior month.
The healing economy means S&P expects the default rate to keep easing, perhaps down to 6.9 percent by September.
