Features/Toxic Bonds Headed For A Fall ; Companies issued special zero-coupon bonds, assuming th= ey'd never have to pay them off.
Now shareholders could be on the hook for = a $65 billion tab.
Janice Revell  11/26/2001 Fortune Magazine Time Inc. 131 (Copyright 2001)  It was an irresistible proposition: Borrow billions of dollars, pay no inte= rest, reap millions in tax breaks, and then wait for the debt to simply dis= appear.
That was the promise of zero-coupon convertible bonds, and companie= s from Enron to Merrill Lynch binged on what seemed like free money.=20 But, of course, there was a catch: For this scenario to play out, a company= 's stock price had to rise sharply--and quickly.
That's because investors b=

Article
Features/Toxic Bonds Headed For A Fall ; Companies issued special zero-coupon bonds, assuming th= ey'd never have to pay them off.
Now shareholders could be on the hook for = a <CUR><NUMBER> billion tab.
Janice Revell <NUMBER>/<NUMBER>/<NUMBER> Fortune Magazine Time Inc. <NUMBER> (Copyright <NUMBER>) It was an irresistible proposition: Borrow billions of dollars, pay no inte= rest, reap millions in tax breaks, and then wait for the debt to simply dis= appear.
That was the promise of zero-coupon convertible bonds, and companie= s from <COMPANY> to Merrill Lynch binged on what seemed like free money.=<NUMBER> But, of course, there was a catch: For this scenario to play out, a company= 's stock price had to rise sharply--and quickly.
That's because investors b=
billions dollars pay rise catch scenario features toxic janice revell number inte rest tax breaks wait play company stock zero coupon bonds