Debt at CRBL has also jumped--not a bad thing if the leveraged returns more than compensate for increased interest costs.

FORBES: Buyback Boomlet

Returns on leveraged loans have lagged behind those achieved by high-yield bonds this year.

ECONOMIST: Buttonwood

Moreover, because hedge funds are so lightly regulated and often highly leveraged, their apparently superior returns are due, at least in part, to their taking on much more risk.

ECONOMIST: Clipped