World's Problems Stall High Yield Market.(News)

Byline: Matthew Sheahan

Eight deals have been pulled from the high yield primary market this month. But unlike February's slowdown, this spate of yanked deals has been caused by larger fears about the state of the economy and is potentially more problematic.

The companies that failed to price offerings in February did so because they could not convince investors to buy at the prices promised by the banks, market participants say. Once the issuers adjusted their expectations and the market settled, some of those deals returned and were successfully executed. But what is causing investors to balk at deals now, sources say, is not pricing as much as fear about the economy and the state of the economic recovery.

"It's a totally different market than what you saw in February. It's global market volatility and economic skittishness that's causing people not to buy new issue paper," said Mathew Van Alstyne, head of research with Odeon Capital Group. "Investors are just not …