Last week’s jobs report was just the sort of “not too hot, not too cold” result that kept a possible Federal Reserve (Fed) rate hike on the table at the conclusion of next week’s Fed meeting.

As the U.S. economy enters the second half of this business cycle, a sporadic credit checkup can be just what the doctor ordered. A close look at the high-yield market shows some slight signs of credit quality deterioration emerging, but for now the market, despite recent challenges, shows relatively stable vital signs.

Music from four players continues to influence events in the bond market this summer: the Federal Reserve (Fed), China, oil prices, and the U.S. dollar. The music from these four players has led to a mixed response in the bond market: disturbing for short-term securities, melodic for long-term bonds.

The year-to-date performance advantage of high-yield bonds relative to Treasuries (based on the Barclays High Yield and Treasury indexes) has been reduced to a very narrow margin following rising oil-related default fears.

Fixed income markets showed signs of a growth scare in July 2015, with lower real yields, lower inflation expectations, and a flatter yield curve.

Emerging markets debt (EMD) spreads have moved above 4%, a level that has attracted buying interest in recent years. EMD is more sensitive to interest rates than the broad U.S. fixed income market.