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Good morning from the Financial Times. Today is Monday, July 24th,

and this is your FT News Briefing.

US companies are struggling to repaid junk loans,

and European retail banks are still seeing a big boost in profits.

Plus, the FT's Josh Noble explains why the commercial rollout of the Women's World Cup

has been a little lackluster.

Her former professional called Karen Karney.

She uses this phrase regularly that women's football is a start-up business.

I'm Sonya Hudson in for Mark Filipino, and here's the news you need to start your day.

The US junk loan market has been hit by the biggest batch of credit rating downgrades since 2020.

That's according to an analysis by JP Morgan.

These loans typically have floating rates that move with interest rates.

Companies and private equity backers loaded up on this type of debt during the pandemic,

because interest rates were super low.

Now that borrowing costs have skyrocketed,

these downgrades are a sign that companies are struggling to repay the lenders.

They also mean that the market's biggest buyers could shun some of the riskiest loans.

European banks are reporting their second quarter earnings this week.

It's expected to be another round of good news for banks that have big retail arms,

and bad news for investment banks.

...