officials also will outline publicly the process they followed. The final results will be announced on May 4.Some fund managers hope the banks will emerge from the government tests looking less vulnerable than expected, sparking a rally in bank bonds.”I would imagine stress tests would be a positive for how those corporate bonds trade,” said Jamie Cox, managing partner at asset management company Harris Financial Group in Colonial Heights, Virginia.”In so far as these banks live, they will be able to make their interest payments on their bonds,” he said, though he cautioned that for some institutions, “nationalization is a risk.”Investors’ biggest worry is that some major banks might have to be nationalized. In that case, not only would shareholders likely be wiped out, but bondholders might get hard hit as well.”If the stress tests come out to be extremely negative, the nationalization folks (advocates) will scream bloody murder about the need to nationalize,” said Dan Alpert, an investment banker at Westwood Capital LLC in New York.That in turn could take a toll on pension funds and insurers, who are big holders of U.S. bank debt, Alpert said.Analysts wonder whether corporate bonds may have merely staged a short-lived bear market rally The IMF now forecasts U.S. banks face some $2.7 trillion of writedowns on assets, totaling $4.1 trillion worldwide as the global economic downturn drags on.That grim outlook is stoking fund managers’ fears that a persistent credit crunch and the impaired economy may feed off each other, triggering further bank losses and curbing lending to companies, causing more to default on their debt.The stress tests aim to establish how much more capital different banks will need to stay afloat as the tide of losses from housing, commercial property and consumer lending markets rises. Investors are likely to punish the bonds and stocks of banks needing most government cash and reward those who are more self-sufficient.The stress tests “will separate the men from the boys,” said Alpert.Already, bonds of those banks most dependent on state support are trading at much wider yield spreads over U.S. Treasury bonds — showing the extra compensation investors demand in return for the risk they are taking — than those of banks pushing to pay back government bailout money and assert their independence.(Additional reporting by Mark Felsenthal and David Lawder)(Reporting by John Parry).

Now that we are officially nearing the quarter poleper say of the 162 marathon baseball season, I think its time to look at some of the front runners for the league’s best awards, with focusing on the AL Cy young race in particular.Recently I have seen projections, debates and other blogs debating the early season race for the coveted award for pitchers and began to realize that the choice so far is obvious in the AL.If I were to vote right now, it’d have to be given to Roy Halladay of the Toronto Blue Jays. One might say, ” aah, hes only 6-5 on a team that plays in the shadow of the Yankees and Redsox”, but you have to take a deeper look to see how extraordinary his season has been so far.In the age of the use of the bullpen for essentially every major league team, often when Halladay takes the hill, the ‘pen can rest assured they wont be needed much that particular night or day. Halladay leads not only the AL, but the major leagues with 5 CG, an astounding stat, since last year he only finished with 7 CG for the entire season.The next closest pitcher(s) have only 2 CG, and mostly play in the arguably weaker NL.Halladay has been knocked over the past few years for his declining strikeout ratios, but I believe he was just evolving into a better pitcher to become more efficient. He only stuck out 139 batters in 225 IP, well under a K per inning and so his dominance went unnoticed throughout much of the media around the U.S. Granted hes no Johan Santana in terms of striking batters out, but he was always respectable in the category.

 However, this season, hes sneaking his way up the leader board in this category. After last night’s gem against the Oakland A’s, going 8 IP with 9 K’s, Halladay now leads the AL in K’s with 71 in 89 IP(which he also leads the entire majors in). Its almost as if Halladay’s stuff has even gotten better since last season. The hitter knows whats coming, yet still cant make solid contact.Halladay’s ERA now stands at 2.93 only 8th in the AL, but as we all know early season ERA’s dont usually hold up for an entire season. Halladay is third in WHIP with an eye sparkling 0.99 and has walked only 11 batters in 89 IP. Halladay has even come out of the bullpen a couple weekends ago when facing the Phillies in a situation where he was desperately needed.What other starter would sacrifice his next start to ensure his own team’s success in a very important game? In this day in age, not too many. Hes a workhorse, pitch counts hardly matter with Halladay.One could argue, hes fragile, but look at the past 2 years when he was injured mid season.

A freak line drive off his ankle ended one season, and last year he was affected with fatigue and an appendectomy, which put Halladay behind the eight ball for the entire season.Halladay is a true “old time pitcher” and defintely deserves consideration among the game’s elite. If Halladay was pitching in NY or Boston, hed be considered a hero in those cities with likes of Rivera and Beckett. Instead, Halladay quitely moves along north of the border, putting together an unbelieveable season.Now one could argue for many other pitchers as well, this is no shot at Cliff Lee, Joe Saunders, or any other starter in the AL, but I just want to shed light on how dominant Halladay has been.. Investor Conference Call ScheduledALEXANDRIA, Va.–(Business Wire)–USA Mobility, Inc.