Overdue speculative bonds reach 5.1 percent in second quarter Fitch expects skipped payments to hit $90 billion by year-end U.S. high-yield bonds in default reached the highest levels in at least six years as more energy companies buckled under pressure from stagnant oil prices. Speculative-grade U.S. defaults spiked to 5.1 percent of the total outstanding in the second quarter from 4.4 percent in the first, according to a July 12 report from Moody’s Investors Service. The global high-yield default rate could finish the year at 4.9 percent, with the U.S. as much as 6.4 percent, Moody’s said. Close all those tabs. Open this email. Get Bloomberg’s daily newsletter. Politics The latest political news, analysis, charts, and dispatches from the campaign trail. You will now receive the Politics newsletter Markets Everything you need to know about what’s moving markets, in your inbox daily. You will now receive the Markets newsletter […]