Corporate bonds - go figure

Evoking the sympathy of absolutely no one, the world's financial companies are grappling with balance sheet strains, regulatory scrutiny, uncertainty over exposures to the eurozone crisis, rating downgrades and now, a Libor scandal. For industrial companies, on the other hand, the recent story has largely been one of strong balance sheets, high stockpiles of cash and revenue and earnings growth. Based on those widely different risk assessments, there has been a marked shift in the capital markets of late. Historically, industrial companies yielded about 100 basis points more than financials, a US Barclays index shows. Since 2008, however, it has been the reverse.