Corporate credit markets were busy last week with more than $23 billion of new debt issued. Eleven companies swiped their credit cards for a billion dollars or more. Who's doing all that borrowing and what are they doing with the money? Here are some of the stories.
Ecolab
Gilead Sciences
Next in line for big bucks was Hewlett-Packard
Other companies with a billion or more of new borrowing included Wells Fargo
An interesting common thread is paying down commercial paper. Hewlett-Packard, Noble, and Viacom are all using new debt to pay off lower rate commercial paper. That looks a lot like CFOs protecting their companies against the risk of rising short-term rates.
You can follow the companies mentioned by clicking the links below to add them to My Watchlist.
- Add Wells Fargo to My Watchlist.
- Add Pharmasset to My Watchlist.
- Add Hewlett-Packard to My Watchlist.
- Add Gilead Sciences to My Watchlist.
- Add Ford Motor to My Watchlist.
- Add Ecolab to My Watchlist.
- Add Duke Energy to My Watchlist.