Hospitals pile junk high, but fervor subsiding

While the junk bond market has been good to hospital companies this year--feeding them $2 billion through the sale of high-yield bonds--some say a post-election chill has cooled the junk bond fervor. One healthcare system, citing a "collapse" in the junk market, called off a $200 million hospital acquisition deal. However, many analysts say a recent slump in junk bond prices represents an oversupply of issues, not a market collapse.