If your 2026 plan still feels like guesswork, it鈥檚 time for a structured playbook to position your portfolio strategically and confidently. 糖心视频 covers 63 subsectors in over 85 curated outlooks, translating macro noise and sector nuance into actionable positioning to help bring strategy to the forefront. Turn research into real portfolio moves with details such as sector insights, name-level ideas, and scenario analyses.

U.S. Credit: Volatility, Divergence, and Restructuring Maps

Policy uncertainty and uneven macro trends in 2025 pushed investors to focus on quality and we saw weaker balance sheets punished because of it. Our U.S. Post-Petition Outlook shows how volatility and sector divergence have widened the gap between resilient credits and stressed capital structures, and where default risk is clustering across Media, Consumer Goods, Telecom, Basics, and Technology. It鈥檚 the map you need to decide where to be paid for risk and where to stay patient. We also lay out how the legal landscape is moving. Liability management is increasingly becoming the path of least resistance, with precedents tilting negotiations toward out-of-court solutions over traditional Chapter 11. The special situations roster was growing in 2025 with names such as AMC, DISH, Hertz, Liberty Puerto Rico, Sabre. In the U.S. Special Sits Outlook you first get a look at which sectors outperformed, which faced steep losses, and what these shifts signal for the coming year.

Emerging Markets: Growth, Supply, and Selectivity

As U.S. credit works through dispersion, Emerging Markets are picking up, at least in the headline numbers. Growth is running near 3.9% with Asia in the lead, while Latin America is subdued amid tariff frictions and fiscal consolidation. Our Emerging Markets 2026 Outlook flags where sovereign spreads look uncomfortably tight across IG and HY, even as buffers improve: FX reserves now cover roughly 135% of short-term debt, meaning balance-of-payments stress is less likely. We also look at how record Eurobond supply (around $260 billion) adds a practical constraint on issuance and refinancing needs.

Chemicals and Transmission Risk: Separating Noise from Catalysts

Local shocks can alter sector economics quickly, and chemicals sit at the intersection of energy, currencies, and supply chains. In U.S. Chemicals: Venezuela鈥擭oise or Real Risk?, we separate headline risk from drivers that actually move spreads. The analysis traces how developments in Venezuela could ripple through oil balances and feedstock economics across ethane- and naphtha-based systems. Learn which Latin America鈥揻ocused transmission channels matter for chemical companies, including currency, funding, and operating footprint considerations鈥攁nd how to think about company-specific exposure. Notably, crop science is one to watch regarding shifts in distributor behavior, demand timing, and working capital needs, as input costs can quickly turn pricing into pitfalls if you鈥檙e not tracking the right indicators. We also break down where company portfolios and geographic mixes may influence risk or resilience, and what 鈥渕onitor levels鈥� imply for attention and follow-up.

Private Credit: Where to Be Selective

Private markets round out the picture. Despite syndicated markets clawing back share with about $48 billion in takeouts, private credit still posted ~$140 billion of deal flow in 2025. The competitive dynamics for 2026 will be sharper, and spreads are already telling you to be selective: direct lending yields fell below 10% for the first time in three years. Our U.S. Private Credit 2026 Outlook frames return expectations under tighter spreads and prospective Fed cuts, and it highlights where documentation is converging toward BSL standards. Get a look into high-profile LMTs like Pluralsight and First Brands to see how covenant protections can erode; we flag the terms that matter and the negotiating levers that preserve recoveries. The regulatory backdrop has shifted too. With leveraged lending guidelines withdrawn in December 2025, banks can compete more aggressively at higher leverage levels although good for issuers, it鈥檚 challenging for private credit鈥檚 edge. That鈥檚 exactly when systemic transmission risks deserve attention. We monitor five stress channels from bank exposure to NDFIs (11.2% of loans) and insurance鈥揚E partnerships to rising PIK usage and sector concentration in technology and healthcare so you can adjust sizing before cracks widen.

From Insight to Action: How to Use These Outlooks

Across these outlooks, the thread is consistent: translate analysis into action. You鈥檒l find explicit sector recommendations, high-conviction picks and pans, relative value maps across capital structures, issuance expectations, and scenario analyses that flag the inflection points most likely to change our stance. Use them to position early where fundamentals are strong, focus on clear catalysts, and avoid areas with hidden risk.

These are only a few of the 85+ outlooks available on 糖心视频, for access to all outlooks on our platform, get started by requesting a demo today.

Ready to dive in? Access 20+ FREE outlooks now to start building your 2026 playbook with confidence.

Prioritizing which new issues deserve your attention can be a challenge. Which ones align with your mandate before they come to market? With mandates, risk limits, and portfolio objectives competing for focus, a concise, structured view makes the difference. That鈥檚 why we built the Deals Screener: a central hub to monitor, filter, and evaluate deals in one streamlined workflow.

Why the Deals Screener is Different

Its built for speed and precision: With over 25 filters, you can move from a broad market view to a curated shortlist in minutes. Filter by sector, region, issuer type, structure, credit grade, spreads, tranche status, and more. Plus, you can save those curated shortlists to come back to again.

You can put historical performance in context: Assess live opportunities alongside an issuer鈥檚 track record. Historical data allows you to benchmark current terms against prior deals and see how risk and pricing have evolved over time.

Maintain consistency across workflows: Save specific screener lists that you can always refer to, whether you need to reference new issues, leveraged loans, investment-grade bonds, or a region-specific lens.

Zooming Out with Company Screeners

When you need a higher-level view, Company Screeners help you analyze issuers beyond a single deal:

• Coverage: See the type of coverage available for each issuer, and refine your screener to only see the types of coverage you care about; research, covenants, news, etc.
• Key attributes: Filter by credit grade, region, sector, and other metadata to build a clean, refined list focused on the issuers that matter to you.
• Scoring for faster prioritization: For select issuers, leverage CS View and CoreScore to add a standardized perspective to your process. These signals help you rank issuers quickly to best assess relative risk and opportunity. Learn more about our scoring methods in our last blog here.

Deal Details at a Glance

Choose your market lens

• Bonds Screener: Track new and ongoing bond issuance with filters tailored to fixed income conventions.
• Loans Screener: Focus on loan deals with loan-specific fields, including the new Outstanding filter for US Loans.
• Combined Screener: View bonds and loans together for a single pipeline across instruments, ideal for teams covering both markets.

Explore More With Advanced Filters

• Know exactly where a deal stands in its lifecycle: expected, in market, completed.
• Watch for changes in pricing or structure and evaluate market tone in real time.
• See how pricing has evolved from launch, helpful for gauging demand and issuer concessions.
• Align pipeline timing with your portfolio calendar and liquidity needs.
• Use fields like sector, collateral type, and issuer ratings to quickly triage relevance.

Practical Ways to Use the Screeners

• Build a mandate-aligned shortlist: Start broad with parameters such as US HY consumer issuers, then apply credit grade, spread thresholds, and tranche status to narrow to deals that fit your limits and performance goals.
• Monitor refinancing risk: Use Outstanding and maturity filters (where available) to identify issuers likely to tap the market, then track for announcements or pre-marketing activity.
• Compare spreads: Easily track current spreads to historical levels for the same issuer or peers. If spreads are tight to recent comps, you can flag for closer diligence or set price targets.
• Cross-issuer comparison: Use Company Screeners to rank issuers by credit grade and CS View/CoreScore, then drill into active deals for the top names on your list.
• Save time and create custom views such as “Daily Pipeline,” “New Issues IG,” and “Loans – US Outstanding” to avoid rebuilding filters every morning.

Always Improving

We鈥檙e continuously evolving the screeners based on user feedback and market needs. In the past few weeks, we鈥檝e added the following categories:

• Outstanding: Identify issuers with active, still-maturing debt to understand refinancing risk, maturity walls, and potential follow-on issuance.
  Note: This filter currently applies to US Loans only, with additional regions and asset classes on the roadmap.
• Issuer Credit Grade: Fine-tune results by credit grade. Use the funnel icon next to the column header to select specific grades or sort alphabetically for clean comparisons.

The Bottom Line

When there are too many deals and not enough time, a disciplined pipeline process makes all the difference. The Deals Screener and Company Screener bring structure to a chaotic market: filter fast, compare smartly, and make confident decisions backed by both data and research.

Access the Deals Screener tool within the 糖心视频 platform today.

It鈥檚 hard to make confident calls when fundamentals point one way, market pricing another, and documentation risks lurk in the fine print. That鈥檚 why we built three scoring lenses so you can see the whole picture and act with conviction: CS View for relative value, CoreScore for durability, and Documentation Scores for covenants and structure. Together, they help you answer the practical questions that drive performance, such as 鈥淚s this issuer鈥檚 credit strength improving or deteriorating over my investment horizon?鈥�, 鈥淚s the market compensating me enough for the risks I see?鈥�, and 鈥淲hat protections or structural features do I need to preserve value if the cycle turns?鈥�

With these scores on a common, comparable scale, you can move from fragmented inputs to a unified decision framework.

Why Multiple Scores

No single metric captures the full picture of credit risk and relative value. Credit quality evolves, legal guardrails shape outcomes through the cycle, and market pricing can create misalignments. Our framework addresses three dimensions:

Relative value: Are we being paid appropriately for the risk versus the sector or peers?

Fundamental durability: What is the issuer鈥檚 underlying credit quality and resilience?

Legal protection: How strong are the covenants and structural protections supporting creditors

Deep Dive into Each Score

1. CS View: Your top-line stance and issuer-level relative value

CS View is our issuer-level view of expected excess returns relative to a sector or defined peer set, defined by the following performance ratings:

• Outperform: Expected excess return greater than the sector/peers
• Market Perform: Expected excess return broadly in line with the sector/peers
• Underperform: Expected excess return less than the sector/peers. When sector comparisons are less appropriate, we specify the peer set used.

How it鈥檚 used

• Trade selection: Identify where risk-adjusted returns look attractive versus sector or peers.
• Timing: Lean into catalysts (positive or negative) not fully reflected in pricing.
• Portfolio construction: Tilt exposure based on comparative value, not just absolute spread levels.

CS View translates valuation versus peers and curves into clear signals you can pair with CoreScore to time adds, trims, and sizing. It focuses on where spreads look attractive or rich today and can flag preferred points on the curve.

2. CoreScore: Grounding the credit view in fundamentals

CoreScore provides a deeper dive beneath the CS View, offering additional detail and context that helps you understand the factors behind the analyst鈥檚 assessment.

You鈥檒l get our holistic view of an issuer鈥檚 credit strength, designed to support buy-and-hold decisions and identify long-term total return opportunities. It is built on six underlying credit factors and expressed on a four-point scale:

• Core: Very stable, high-quality credit profile
• Strategic: Strong, resilient profile with manageable risks
• Moderate Risk: Mixed profile with identifiable pressure points
• Speculative: Weak profile with elevated risk and lower recovery expectations

 

How it鈥檚 used

• Long-horizon positioning: Align with long-term portfolios seeking resilience or secular winners.
• Risk calibration: Distinguish volatility-driven issuers from structurally challenged credits.
• Monitoring: Track fundamental migration (improvement or deterioration) over time.

 

CoreScore distills issuer durability through the cycle into a single, comparable view you can use alongside CS View. It emphasizes balance sheet strength, cash flow resilience, and industry structure to screen names, validate long-term positions, and monitor evolving stories.

3. Documentation Scores: The legal layer that can shift outcomes

Documentation Scores (from Covenant Review) combines empirical analysis with qualitative legal expertise to assess covenant strength and structural protections. The scoring framework captures covenant nuances that can materially affect creditor outcomes.

How it鈥檚 used

• New issue evaluation: Gauge protections at launch and assess appropriate concessions.
• Negotiation leverage: Identify terms most relevant to downside risk and recovery.
• Ongoing surveillance: Track documentation drift and sponsor behavior across cycles.

Documentation Scores are separate from CoreScore and CS View and are most useful when structure matters such as comparing tranches, avoiding leakage risk, and prioritizing instruments with stronger investor safeguards. Plus, we鈥檝e just made Documentation Scoring smarter. You can read more about the updates here.

How the Lenses Work Together

Think of each score as a layer in the investment decision stack:

• CS View: Are we being adequately compensated today versus sector and peer alternatives?
• CoreScore: Can this credit strengthen the portfolio through the cycle?
• Documentation Scores: How well is the position protected if conditions deteriorate?

Practical Tips for Investors

Here鈥檚 a look at ways you can use these scores in your workflow. Start by grounding your thesis with the fundamentals score, then test market compensation with the relative value score, and finally set protections, sizing, and timing with the documentation/structure score. Used together, the scores help you move from insight to action with greater confidence and consistency.

• Align horizon to the tool: Use CS View for trade selection and timing, CoreScore for strategic positioning, and Documentation Scores for protection checks.
• Watch for divergence: If CS View is Underperform but CoreScore is strong, the credit may be solid while pricing is rich. Consider patience or curve selection.
• Track migration: Shifts in any one score can foreshadow changes in the others (e.g., weakening documentation across a sponsor鈥檚 platform may presage future fundamental strain).

How to Apply the Scores

There are many ways to use the scores. To get the most from the scoring frameworks, here are examples of how you might react based on each score鈥檚 result.

CoreScore + CS View use cases

• When CS View is Outperform and CoreScore is high: You may want to maintain or modestly increase exposure. Use CS View to identify favored maturities; documentation can serve as a tie-breaker when selecting tranches.
• When CS View is Underperform and CoreScore shows moderate risk: Consider a cautious stance. Pricing looks less compelling relative to peers; evaluate alternatives with stronger fundamentals or more attractive relative value.
• When CS View is Market Perform and CoreScore is solid: Think about a selective approach. Monitor for better entry points or curve segments highlighted by CS View; keep the issuer on the watchlist.
• When CS View is Underperform and CoreScore is improving: Try monitoring for a potential inflection. Track fundamentals and watch for changes in CS View to identify dislocations or valuation shifts.
• When CS View is Outperform and CoreScore is weak: Explore tactical positioning. If engaging, keep tight risk parameters and reassess frequently given weaker fundamentals.

Documentation Scores (Covenant Review) use cases

• When Documentation Scores are strong: Think of prioritizing tranches or structures with stronger protections when you have choice among bonds or loans. Strong documentation can help mitigate downside and leakage risk, especially in high yield, leveraged loans, or complex indentures.
• When Documentation Scores are weak: You may want to favor secured or covenant鈥慼eavy alternatives or reduce reliance on structures with limited protections. Use the score to differentiate among tranches and avoid features that increase flexibility for issuers at investors鈥� expense.

Strong outcomes can come from integrating fundamentals, legal structure, and market pricing. CS View, CoreScore, and Documentation Scores are designed to support that integration, helping you see the broader picture and calibrate positioning.

Access these scoring frameworks within the 糖心视频 platform today.

Understanding the complexities of covenants is tough, especially when every document is different. The nuances matter, and without a like-for-like comparison system it鈥檚 hard to tell where protections are strong or weak. To solve this problem, in 2019 Covenant Review introduced an innovative loan documentation scoring framework to break down complex leveraged finance documents. Since then, LMEs and other market developments have increased complexity and heightened the need for clear, consistent evaluation. That鈥檚 why we鈥檝e upgraded our Documentation Scoring to a more transparent, unified framework that brings sharper comparability and actionable insight across deals and regions. This new framework builds on our original groundbreaking scoring system delivering enhanced clarity and actionable insights for leveraged finance professionals worldwide.

Behind these enhancements is a blend of robust empirical data and qualitative legal judgment from seasoned practitioners. Documentation Scoring captures covenant nuances from ratio calculations/basket flexibility and EBITDA adjustments to mandatory prepayments and flexibility provided by named loopholes and other provisions that facilitate LMEs, ensuring a comprehensive assessment of lender protection.

What鈥檚 changed from the original scoring?

Documentation Scoring 2.0 goes beyond the original framework by integrating new data points, refined weighting, and advanced scoring techniques. The main additions to the process includes:

• Value Leakage Protection: A dedicated sub-score that quantifies the potential for value to move away from the credit. It assesses flexibility around transfers to unrestricted subsidiaries, investments and joint ventures, dividends and distributions, asset sales and leakage mechanisms, and related carve-outs and baskets.

• Ratio Calculations and Basket Flexibility: A new Quality Factor that includes egregious exclusions of debt, high watermark features, and reclassification provisions, so that you can better ascertain calculation manipulations.

• Reporting Protection (Now Available in the US): Already part of our European scoring, Reporting Protection scoring is now included for US documentation. It evaluates covenant features such as delivery frequency and timeliness of financials, audited statements, compliance certificates, KPI and add-back transparency, and other reporting safeguards.

What stays the same?

• Our core pillars: Collateral Protection, Default Protection, Liquidity Protection (EU), and Lenders鈥� Repricing Optionality remain central to our review process.
• Methodology: We continue to blend detailed empirical inputs with qualitative legal judgment from experienced practitioners, capturing nuances from structural subordination and EBITDA adjustments to mandatory prepayments and transfer provisions.
• Consistent outputs: Sub-scores roll into a transparent, document-level score designed for like-for-like comparisons across regions and over time.

Why the change?听

The upgraded scoring system provides a听transparent, unified framework听for evaluating documentation risk across regions. You can now access a more consistent and actionable view of covenant strength, supporting better decision-making in a fast-evolving market.

The result for leveraged finance professionals:

• More complete risk picture: Directly scoring value leakage and reporting discipline surfaces key drivers of recoveries, documentation discipline, and monitoring.
• Better comparability: Extending Reporting Protection to US deals aligns regional coverage, simplifying cross-border screening and portfolio monitoring.
• Actionable insight: The refined coverage supports quicker triage, tighter comps, and clearer escalation when negotiating terms.

Documentation Score 2.0 is available now within Covenant Review reports via 糖心视频.

Request a free trial today to get access to these insights.

Empowering Users with AI-Driven Features at 糖心视频

Artificial Intelligence is transforming how our products, solutions, and humans operate. At 糖心视频, our mission is to combine our people powered insights with AI. Our new AI feature is meant to simply enhance our research and data, not replace. We鈥檝e prioritized making your workflow more efficient, insightful, and focused, so you can spend less time on manual tasks and more time on the high value analysis you came to 糖心视频 for in the first place.

Solving Real Problems with AI

Our platform has long been trusted for its robust data management and collaboration tools. Historically, users often spent hours gathering inputs, generating reports, and sifting through large volumes of information to find the signal.听The process was effective but time-consuming, limiting the opportunity for strategic thinking.

Now, you can query our datasets directly across the platform without jumping between sources or building manual spreadsheets. For example, you can pull a forward view of high-yield deals likely to come to market over the next few weeks. The result: faster workflows, richer insights, and more time for strategic thinking.

AI Features That Make a Difference

Our commitment to improving your experience led us to integrate powerful AI capabilities into the platform to cut down the time you spend manually pulling data. Here鈥檚 what our new AI now brings to the table:

• Smart Search & Article Chat:

  Instantly find the information you need. Use natural language queries in the main search bar to locate key financial metrics, summarize lengthy reports, or highlight top risks.

  Search for: 鈥渓atest sector commentary,鈥� 鈥渃ompany rating changes,鈥� or 鈥渋ssuer risk summaries鈥�.

  

• Automated Data Tagging:

  Say goodbye to manual sorting. Our AI automatically tags and organizes research, ensuring you can filter and find relevant content effortlessly.

• Predictive Analytics & Intelligent Recommendations:

  Unlock actionable insights with predictive tools that surface trends, potential risks, and investment opportunities tailored to your interests.

  

Improve Your Everyday

Pinpoint research instantly

Looking for the latest sector commentary, rating actions, or issuer risk summaries? Our AI-powered search makes it easier to locate the exact information you need. Instead of scrolling through dozens of reports or navigating complex databases, simply type any query and receive a curated list of results in seconds. This instant access to targeted insights means you can respond to client requests, market developments, or internal questions with confidence and speed. Whether you鈥檙e preparing for a meeting or conducting a deep dive into a new issuer, our smart search keeps you one step ahead, letting you focus on analysis rather than manual research.

Use this prompt: 鈥淩ecent downgrades in the tech sector鈥�

Digest information faster

Imagine being able to distill a 30-page sector outlook into a concise set of bullet points, or extract the main financial ratios from an earnings review in moments. With our sidebar chat box in each article, you can instantly summarize long write-ups, surface key metrics, and spotlight top risks or opportunities. These quick, accurate summaries save time and help you catch critical details that can get buried in dense documents. Whether you鈥檙e tracking trends across issuers or scanning analyst commentary before a call, our AI helps you absorb the essentials fast and efficiently.

Ask this: 鈥淪ummarize this article in 3 bullet points.鈥�

Break down complex data

Need to interpret a shifting credit spread trend for portfolio risk? Or unpack the drivers behind a revenue forecast chart? Our AI turns complex visuals into plain language, so you can move from raw data to actionable insights.

Perfect for presentations, client questions, and day-to-day decision-making, this feature helps you explain the numbers clearly and act on them with confidence.

Try it out: 鈥淲hat are the key drivers for this company鈥檚 EBITDA?鈥�

Bridge language gaps

We want to make it easier to access our information regardless of language. Our AI makes it simple to translate articles instantly, so you鈥檙e never held back by language barriers. You can also keep the conversation going by asking follow-up questions in the article chat in your preferred language.

Prompt with this: 鈥淭ranslate the executive summary into Spanish.鈥�

Get answers to tough questions

No matter how complex the question, our AI is ready to help. From quick facts like 鈥淲hat鈥檚 Company X鈥檚 current leverage ratio?鈥� to deeper asks like 鈥淗ow will upcoming regulations impact US bank financials?鈥�, just type your query and let the AI do the heavy lifting. You鈥檒l get fast, reliable answers that turn uncertainty into clarity so you can brief clients, run diligence, or explore new ideas with confidence. Our AI draws on research and data produced by our analysts to get you answers faster.

AI That Works for You

Our platform鈥檚 AI features are designed to support, not replace, the expertise of our human analysts. By automating routine tasks and surfacing deeper insights, 糖心视频 AI empowers you to focus on what matters most: making informed, strategic decisions.

Discover how 糖心视频 AI can accelerate your workflow and maximize the value of human-driven research.

Contact us to learn more.