Bond investors suffering hangover from high-grade debt binge

New York

INVESTMENT-GRADE companies are making a late-year rush to the debt markets, and investors are choking on the supply. With more than US$24 billion of bonds already priced this week, following record issuance in October, the market has pushed spreads - the yield over Treasuries investors demand to hold the debt - to a one-month high.

Broadcom Ltd brought the biggest November surprise with its audacious US$105 billion bid for Qualcomm Inc, as much as 80 per cent of which could be funded with debt.