About $7.1 billion in investment grade supply hit the market, although the number drops quickly if the $3 billion Italy global is removed from the equation. (Generally, we include sovereign and supranational issuance in our calculations although often they are not a good gauge of the overall health of the market.) Overall, the investment grade market remains fixated on the volatility in the telecom sector (WorldCom, Qwest and AT&T have garnered the most headlines) and other names like Tyco, which have also been in the news. As the market starts to stabilize, the primary market should also start to pick up given still-low absolute borrowing rates. The week saw a healthy high yield calendar as inflows into the sector support primary issuance. For the week, $1.6 billion in new junk deals hit the market.
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