With only $5 billion of new deals it was quiet in the primary market in what essentially amounted to a shortened week to observe the first anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The improving risk appetite was evidenced however, with over $1 billion in high-yield deals which were successfully placed and the pipeline for forthcoming issuance continues to look robust. Deals came from Jefferson-Smurfit (B3/B-) for $700 million, and from Gray Television (B3/B-), for $100 million. Next week's slate includes a $250 million scheduled sale from meat packer Swift and Co., and a benchmark $1 billion sale for directory provider QwestDex (Ba3/B-). This augurs well for September issuance, which we estimate will approach the $25 billion level, a substantial recovery from the drought of July.
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