"Demand has grown more cautious, but it is certainly still in place for high-yield securities," said Mariel Clemensen, manager of high-yield research at Donaldson.

"The bonds are an outright buy at this level," said Max Holmes, head of high-yield research at NatWest Markets.

"The question now is, where it goes from here, including acquisitions," said Andrew Finkelstein, vice president for high-yield research at Lehman Brothers.

"There is no new news here," said Mariel Clemenson, director of high-yield research at Citicorp Investment Bank.

"Knoll was the lightning strike," said Martin S. Fridson, managing director of high-yield research at Merrill Lynch.

"We didn't have a lot of supply in the first quarter because of the crash," said Robert Long, director of high-yield research at First Boston.

Although the fund is relatively new, Mr. King is no stranger to the market; he is a former director of high-yield research at Citicorp Securities.

"Spreads over Treasuries are the widest they have been in this decade," said Robert Long, head of high-yield research at First Boston.

"I had not been bullish for two years," said Joseph C. Bencivenga, the director of high-yield research at Salomon.

"Activity was disappointingly dull," said Robert Long, the director of high-yield research at the First Boston Corporation.