"The Prebon Yamane 30-day and 90-day paper graph has not updated since April 2011. Could you also kindly look into this?

"In the current climate I think that it is important to monitor the stress in the money markets / commercial paper markets and so these graphs are important. If you have any insight into how these graphs are similar to or different from the 30-day commercial paper graph (which has been updating regularly) I would appreciate your thoughts."

Eoin Treacy's view Thank you for this email which others may also find of interest. The Prebon Yamane commercial paper prices tend to be fairly spotty but have now been updated. The A1P1 ratings for the Prebon Yamane prices are for the highest rated commercial paper while the Fed issued A2P2 prices are for the lowest rated commercial paper.

Conditions in the commercial paper market have changed considerably since 2008. Prior to the financial crisis a large number of corporations were highly dependent on very short-term funding mechanisms which left them highly exposed to a tightening of credit conditions. Since then the amount of outstanding commercial paper has contracted significantly. The issues now troubling the financial sector have more to do with exposure to the continuing travails of the US housing sector as well as the sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone.

The spread between the Prebon Yamane 30-day A1/P1 CP rate and the Fed H.15 A2/P2 Non-Financial CP 30-day rate potentially offers a glimpse of investor risk appetite. At present, the spread remains relatively static suggesting limited stress in this particular facet of the market.