If you look at the Lehman junk index as an indicator of the overall junk market (not to be confued with select opportunities), 2003 was the very hot year for junk, after a few bearish years during the stock market collapse. The last couple of years, capital returns have been steady or slightly negative (last year) with yields steadily falling. Yields on the index aren't much more than a couple of % points above the Total Bond Index yields.

That doesn't suggest junk getting hot again,overall, but of course there are not only likely to be select picks for Charlie out there, if the auto industry, which is now a high % of the junk index after downgrades, turns around, that would certainly boost the capital return on the index. (Of course, that means the best way to tap into the gain would be to buy auto junk parts for yourself.)