High-Yield "Zombies" Boxing Fed In, Too

``Among the prime beneficiaries of zero interest rates have been low-rated companies that have been able to borrow money at rates often in the 5 to 6 percent range... Michael Contopoulos, high-yield strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said the high-yield space is a mess no matter what the Fed does. Global economic weakness and deteriorating fundamentals are making it increasingly harder for the Fed to underwrite junk debt through a zero funds rate... Fed Chair Janet Yellen often uses the word "transitory" to describe various hot spots of problems, but the issues with high-yield could be more secular in nature.''