I think your point on credits is spot on. It is just plain wrong to suggest that fundamental analysis is only relevant for highly distressed issuers. This is a basic error. Why do HY funds/CLOs have armies of credit analysts? Because companies put out information to make themselves look better (putting lipstick on a pig) than they really are. It's up to the credit analyst to price 1) the information that is shown, and 2) the information that is not shown.