Filed under: Financials and analyticals

Last week, the battle between private-equity borrowers and lenders in the debt market that began to unfold in the middle of July hit the equity market in full force.

"Covenant light" loan packages that greatly reduced the terms borrowers had to meet became the norm in the beginning of 2007. However, lenders have now revolted. Major money center bankers are now stuck with $150 billion to $200 billion of loans that they have committed to for their private equity clients.

Borrowers, the Blackstones of the world, are reminding the banks that they committed to the loans, so they have to deal with them. The lenders, the institutions who buy the debt from the banks, are saying they are no longer going to be lenient with their lending terms. It appears this stalemate is going to last into the fall.

For equity investors, the unfortunate reality is that equity markets will remain volatile until this pipeline, which needs to be financed, is worked through. This huge pipeline can be viewed in terms of a widget company having too many widgets, meaning pricing will remain volatile until this excess inventory is worked off.

It looks to be time to pick stocks you want to own for the long term and the price points you want to own them at, stepping up to the plate while everyone else is panicking.

 

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