US investment-grade corporate bond sales are on track to reach $1.76 trillion after deals priced on October 26, 2026, an annual record according to Bloomberg that tops the roughly $1.75 trillion borrowed in 2020. AI borrowing is behind much of the jump. The iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) closed at $104.02, up 0.15%, as falling Treasury yields offset the supply, with the 10-year yield at 5% versus 5.31% on October 5. Lenders are demanding higher rates on new AI deals: SpaceX's roughly $40 billion Apollo-led financing could carry a rate of up to 8.75%, versus 6.65% on its June bonds. On October 16, five-year credit default swaps on CoreWeave rose above 1,100 basis points, implying about 64% odds of default within five years, although none of these companies has defaulted.
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