All eyes will be on the market’s performance in the first two weeks of January, with several of last year’s dropped cross border bond sales ready to go if things are looking good. ETB’s CEO Rafael Orduz said the company plans to sell $300m in bonds in January to cover pension liabilities, saying that the market has calmed down. Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank would handle the offering. Unialco ($150m), Cap Cana ($500m), Grupo M, Sanluis ($275m), Banco Macro ($220m) and Banco Cruzeiro ($150m), are other high-yield issuers hoping for more acceptable levels than what was available in the last two months of the year. On the investment grade side, investors are awaiting a $400m 10-year Eurobond from Usiminas via UBS and JPMorgan. Sovereigns could react more quickly than corporate issuers and have the luxury of less urgent needs to tap the markets in January. Colombia, which needs to sell about $2.3bn in 2008, and Brazil, are likely candidates, notes one banker, who expects a slow first two weeks of the year to be followed by some activity in the third week if issuers are convinced the markets have settled.