This week in charts
Equity drawdowns
Bull markets
Median index returns
MSCI All Country World Index performance
U.S. vs. Europe outperformance
Household spending
Restaurant spending
Home improvement
Disruptive technologies
Computer processing power
Companies issue record level of US debt to avoid market turbulence and election risk
Companies issued record volumes of US debt this week as they moved to head off possible volatility from closely watched economic data, a Federal Reserve meeting and a fast-approaching presidential election.
Twenty-nine US investment-grade bond deals hit the market on Tuesday alone following the Labor Day holiday, data from LSEG shows — the highest daily number on record.
Another burst of activity on Wednesday took issuance over those two days to just under $73bn, the largest figure in LSEG records going back 20 years. More blue-chip deals followed, taking total borrowing across 60 high-grade issuers to almost $82bn — marking the busiest week since May 2020.
Recent borrowing has spanned various sectors, with a $2.5bn deal from Ford Motor Credit, a flurry of bond sales by banks, a $750,000 deal from Target and a $4bn deal from Uber, which marked its first such transaction as an investment-grade company after being upgraded last month.
Investment-grade borrowers typically rush to tap lenders in early September. But senior debt bankers said the record-breaking issuance this week also reflected a desire to get ahead of any potential volatility sparked by economic data or the US election in early November.
Interest Payments Eating Up Canadians’ Incomes by Most Since 1992
The interest-only portion of households’ debt payments represented 9.59% of their disposable incomes in the second quarter, Statistics Canada reported Thursday.
That’s the highest level since 1992, and may capture the peak impact of what’s proved one of the fastest run-ups in interest burdens in a generation — in the first quarter of 2022, the interest-only portion of households’ debt payments represented just 5.86% of income, a record low in data going back to 1990.
This week’s fun finds
Prith, a member of the finance team, spiced things up in the Toronto office this week by hosting a South Asian Moai. No need to apologize for the short notice or “late” arrival, the food was delicious.
How Dave Matthews Band Tour Photographer Sanjay Suchak Meshes His Two Loves
A perfect moment is elusive: it’s hard to predict, hard to describe, but he’ll know it when he sees it.
Here, Sanjay takes us inside the process behind how he works, including a photograph that changed his career; how creativity is an exercise that you can practice everywhere (even in the shower); and why he believes that borrowing like an artist is critical for mastering your craft, no matter what stage you’re at in your career.
