Another healthy week for issuance, with over $14 billion in investment grade, high yield and emerging markets debt coming to market. Highlights of the week included the $1.75 billion three-tranche deal for Citizens Communication, a $1.5 billion transaction for the Williams Companies and deals from several utilities including PPL ($800 million), Appalachian Power ($125 million), Wisconsin Public Service ($150 million), and Michigan Consolidated Gas ($200 million). The week also included a relatively healthy high yield calendar ($1.8 billion) a tap of the Colombia '20s for $325 million and many convertible deals (not included in the statistics below), of which Nortel was the most interesting following on the heals of Lucent's offering. Most of the deals on the week were smaller in size, with the average deal size dropping to below $400 million for only the fourth time this year. Weighted average credit quality was stable at BBB+.
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