Spreads on Consumer ABS

--Yields on three-year, AAA rated credit-card bonds withfloating rates rose to 75 basis points over the London interbank offered rate, up from 40 basis points at the start of the year,according to Deutsche Bank AG data. Spreads over three-year swaprates for three-year, AAA rated fixed-rate auto-loan securitiesrose to 140 basis points, up from 75 basis points. The averagespread over U.S. Treasuries on AAA rated commercial-mortgagesecurities climbed to 364 basis points, from 167 basis points onDec. 31, according to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. index data. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. --Spreads on European securities also jumped again last month,according to a Merrill Lynch & Co. report today. Reaching newhighs were: AAA bonds comprised of U.K. prime mortgages, creditcards, and commercial mortgages; Dutch home mortgages; and``eurozone'' auto loans. Some spreads were in or near``improbable three-digit territory,'' compared with less than 25basis points a year earlier, the report said. The widening has been ``in almost complete disregard for credit fundamentals in Europe,'' analysts including Altynay