By Daily Crux Editor Justin Brill:

Standard & Poor's said this week that the global number of companies defaulting on their debts is at the highest levels since it began keeping records in 1981.

So far, 260 companies have defaulted this year - mostly in the US - far exceeding the previous record of 229 in 2001, during the last recession. For comparison, less than half as many companies defaulted in 2008.

The FT reports:

“The data indicate that we are near or at the inflection point for this default cycle but that does not mean defaults will drop precipitously,” said Diane Vazza, analyst at S&P. “There is still a great deal of risk, I would not want anyone to breathe a sigh of relief and think it’s all over.”

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