Debt issuance picked up significantly on the week, with just under $20 billion in debt hitting the market. Issuance patterns persisted from the previous week with AAA and AA credits tapping the market at the short end to take advantage of historically low absolute all-in rates, while BBBs extended out the curve to take advantage of historically cheap term financing. Average credit quality, weighted by dollar amount of debt issued, was at a still-high AA- level for the year. There are clear signs that the new issue market is starting to free up, although it is still very much a buyers' market. Kerr-McGee and Tyson, both low/mid BBB credits, had to come at a decent concession to the secondary market to get deals done. That said, both credits tightened on the break.
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