Category: Investment Grade Weekly

Credit spreads moved slightly wider this week.  The OAS on the Corporate Index closed at 75 on Thursday June 25^th after closing the week prior at 73.  The 10yr Treasury ended last week at 4.45% and it closed at 4.37% on Thursday evening.  Through Thursday, the Corporate Bond Index year-to-date total return was +1.12% and the yield to maturity for the index was 5.16%.

Bond Market Weekly

SpaceX made a splash in the primary market this week when the company launched a $25bln inaugural bond deal across 5 maturities.  SpaceX was given investment grade ratings by the three major rating agencies at the end of last week.  It is highly unusual for a company that has negative earnings and significant cash burn to have an investment grade rating.  As a bond manager, we rely on our own internal research; we like to think of the rating agencies as more of a lagging indicator of the credit health of a company, but in the case of SpaceX, the agencies are giving the company a great deal of credit for financial success that has yet to come.  Understandably, the company is also given credit for its strategic partnership with the US government as well as the success of the Starlink portion of its business.  SpaceX also benefits from its massive $2 trillion enterprise value and the thought that it could potentially issue equity to support its balance sheet if needed.  We are skeptical that SpaceX has done enough at this point in time to have earned an investment grade rating.  As a bondholder, the upside for our clients in most bonds is par, or a slight premium to par if a credit outperforms or if the interest rate environment moves meaningfully in a favorable direction.  If SpaceX goes absolutely gangbusters the next few years the upside for bondholders is extremely limited relative to equity holders.  In our view, the new SpaceX bonds did not offer enough return potential for the risks incurred.  The new bonds have underperformed during their first few days of trading, particularly the longer dated maturities.

Looking at the entire primary market, $53.85 billion of new debt was priced this week, which was in line with dealer forecasts.  Next week is expected to be on the lighter side with a holiday on Friday for the 4^th of July.  Syndicate desks are looking for just $10-$15bln of new supply.  Year-to-date issuance through the end of the week was $1.158tril which is up +33% relative to 2025.

Flows

According to LSEG Lipper, for the week ended June 24^th, short and intermediate investment-grade bond funds reported a net inflow of +$2.99bln.  2026 year-to-date net flows into investment grade were +$74bln.

This information is intended solely to report on investment strategies identified by Cincinnati Asset Management. Opinions and estimates offered constitute our judgment and are subject to change without notice, as are statements of financial market trends, which are based on current market conditions. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation to buy, hold or sell any financial instrument. Fixed income securities may be sensitive to prevailing interest rates. When rates rise the value generally declines. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Credit spreads moved slightly wider during the holiday shortened week.  The OAS on the Corporate Index closed at 73 on Wednesday June 17^th after closing the week prior at 72.  Spreads are slightly tighter as we go to print on Thursday afternoon.  The 10yr Treasury ended last week at 4.48% and it closed at 4.49% on Wednesday evening.  Rates are about 5bps lower across the Treasury curve on Thursday. Through Wednesday, the Corporate Bond Index year-to-date total return was +0.55% and the yield to maturity for the index was 5.24%.

Points of Interest

The main event of the week was Kevin Warsh’s first meeting and press conference as FOMC chair.  It was an interesting juxtaposition; Warsh was adamant during the nomination process that the Fed’s policy rate was too high, but his first action as chair was delivering the views of an FOMC that is increasingly thinking about increasing the Federal Funds Rate by the end of the year.  The Fed’s dot plot showed nine officials were in favor of at least one hike (six of those were looking for multiple increases) while 8 were expecting no change and just one was looking for a cut.  Chairman Warsh did not participate in the dot plot because he does not believe it is “helpful in the conduct of policy.”    The voting members of the FOMC were unanimous (12-0) in their decision to leave interest rates unchanged.

With the advent of a new Chairman, a quick history lesson seems prudent.  The Fed did not always do regular post-meeting press conferences and it was only formally introduced in April of 2011, and it was only on a quarterly basis.  Chairman Bernanke introduced it as a way to increase central bank transparency in the wake of the financial crisis.  In 2019, Chairman Powell expanded the press conference practice to occur at the conclusion of every regular scheduled FOMC meeting.   Regarding the Summary of Economic Projections, also known as the “dot plot”, this release was formally introduced on January 25, 2012 and has always been done on a quarterly basis since then.  The Fed has changed the way it communicates over the years and we expect that Kevin Warsh will add his own mark in the months ahead.

Primary Market

$44 billion in new debt was priced this week through Wednesday, blowing past dealer estimates of $25bln.  There are two deals pending on Thursday that will add $5.05bln to that number, bringing the weekly total to almost

$50bln.  The biggest deal of the week hit the tape first thing on Monday morning as Nvidia printed $25bln across seven different maturities.  Next week, syndicate desks are looking for $50bln of issuance.  The word on the street is that SpaceX could make its inaugural foray into the investment grade credit markets as soon as next week with a new deal that could total at least $20bln.  The pace of issuance this year remains torrid and is well ahead of 2025, up more than 30% y/y.

Flows

According to LSEG Lipper, for the week ended June 17^th, short and intermediate investment-grade bond funds reported a net inflow of +$5.2bln.  2026 year-to-date net flows into investment grade were +$67.1bln.

This information is intended solely to report on investment strategies identified by Cincinnati Asset Management. Opinions and estimates offered constitute our judgment and are subject to change without notice, as are statements of financial market trends, which are based on current market conditions. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation to buy, hold or sell any financial instrument. Fixed income securities may be sensitive to prevailing interest rates. When rates rise the value generally declines. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Credit spreads moved tighter this week but they are a touch softer as we go to print on Friday morning.  The OAS on the Corporate Index closed at 74 on Thursday May 14^th after closing the week prior at 77.  The 10yr Treasury ended last week at 4.35% and it closed at 4.48% on Thursday evening.  The benchmark rate moved higher again on Friday morning as investors expressed disappointment that President Trump’s visit to China did not yield a near term resolution for the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Through Thursday, the Corporate Bond Index year-to-date total return was +0.03% and the yield to maturity for the index was 5.18%.

Points of Interest

It was a tough week for inflationary pressures.  CPI came in hot, with most measures posting readings that were higher than expectations.  The PPI release also came in meaningfully higher than consensus estimates.  PPI is a measure of inflation at the business or wholesale level, before those prices reach consumers, so it has the potential to act as a leading indicator for CPI and could mean that there are even higher CPI readings coming in the future.  Additionally, investors did not receive the news they were looking for as President Trump went China to meet with President Xi Jinping.  Market participants were anticipating that China would apply more pressure on its Iranian allies to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz.  Putting it all together, the aforementioned issues, along with a tenuous Iranian ceasefire, have led to an increase in Treasury yields across the entire curve.

In other news, Kevin Warsh was confirmed by the Senate as the new Federal Reserve Chair in a 55-45 vote, the narrowest margin since 1977.  Jerome Powell’s term as Chair ends today and Warsh’s first meeting at the helm will occur on June 17^th (The FOMC does not meet in the month of May).

Primary Market

It was a solid week for primary market issuance during the seasonally busy month of May.  Investment grade rated companies priced more than $52bln in new debt, almost precisely in line with expectations.  Dealers are looking for $40bln next week.  Year-to-date new issue supply stood at $903bln through the end of the week.

Perhaps the most interesting piece of news in the primary market this week was not related to the U.S. domestic bond market.  Alphabet priced the biggest Japanese Yen bond deal on record from a foreign issuer.  The size of the deal was roughly $3.64bln USD.  This is interesting for two reasons.  First, Hyperscalers are increasingly turning to foreign bond markets to raise capital for their AI-related spending in order to diversify their funding sources.  Alphabet has also raised capital in Canadian dollars, British pounds and Swiss francs.  Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Oracle have also tapped foreign bond markets in recent weeks.  The fact that these companies are raising capital outside of the US market is supportive of their $USD credit spreads and helps to avoid a negative technical of too much AI supply in our market.  The second interesting point is the fact that Alphabet’s deal was the largest ever Yen deal when it was only a mere $3.64bln USD.  This is a decent slug of bonds, no doubt, but would hardly draw any attention at all in the US market.  This points to the depth and breadth of the US market, which is the largest, deepest and most liquid bond market in the world.  Japan is no slouch as the third largest bond market (China is #2), it is just that the US is that much larger and more efficient which is why issuers prefer it for the bulk of their capital raising needs.

Flows

According to LSEG Lipper, for the week ended May 13^th, short and intermediate investment-grade bond funds reported a net inflow of +$4bln.  2026 year-to-date flows into investment grade were +$52.3bln.

This information is intended solely to report on investment strategies identified by Cincinnati Asset Management. Opinions and estimates offered constitute our judgment and are subject to change without notice, as are statements of financial market trends, which are based on current market conditions. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation to buy, hold or sell any financial instrument. Fixed income securities may be sensitive to prevailing interest rates. When rates rise the value generally declines. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Credit spreads were modestly tighter on the week through Thursday.  The OAS on the Corporate Index closed at 78 on Thursday April 23^rd after closing the week prior at 79.  The 10yr Treasury ended last week at 4.25% and it closed at 4.32% on Thursday evening. Through Thursday, the Corporate Bond Index year-to-date total return was +0.42% and the yield to maturity for the index was 5.06%.

Points of Interest

The highlight of the week occurred on Tuesday with Federal Reserve Chair nominee Kevin Warsh’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee.  Warsh repeatedly stated that he would embrace the role in an independent manner and he reaffirmed his preference for a smaller Fed balance sheet.  The Fed’s use of forward guidance was a topic of discussion; Warsh has been critical of the Fed’s signaling and its focus on PCE as its preferred inflation gauge.  He argues that Fed forecasts can lead to policy errors instead of allowing decisions to be made based on real-time debate in response to changing economic conditions.  On Friday, the DOJ announced that it was dropping the criminal probe of current Fed Chair Powell which may clear the way for Warsh’s confirmation.  Next week is Jerome Powell’s last scheduled meeting as Federal Reserve Chair though he has said he will remain on as chair pro tempore if his successor is not confirmed.  Fed Funds Futures are pricing almost no chance of a rate cut/hike at next week’s meeting.

It was another light week for economic data but things ramp up next week. Thursday in particular is a busy one with personal income/spending, PCE and GDP releases.  Next week is also the height of earnings season in the credit markets with 259 investment grade rated companies reporting.  All eyes will be on the hyperscalers as Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft will all release earnings on Wednesday afternoon.

Primary Market

Investment grade companies priced $19.3bln of new debt this week, in line with the low end of dealer estimates.  Syndicate desks are looking for a similar figure next week.  Volume should start to pick up in the first full week of May as many companies will have reported earnings by that time.  Year-to-date new issue supply stood at $751bln through the end of the week.

Flows

According to LSEG Lipper, for the week ended April 22^nd, short and intermediate investment-grade bond funds reported a net inflow of +$1.53bln.  2026 year-to-date flows into investment grade were +$39.7bln.

This information is intended solely to report on investment strategies identified by Cincinnati Asset Management. Opinions and estimates offered constitute our judgment and are subject to change without notice, as are statements of financial market trends, which are based on current market conditions. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation to buy, hold or sell any financial instrument. Fixed income securities may be sensitive to prevailing interest rates. When rates rise the value generally declines. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Credit spreads were slightly tighter on the week through Thursday and Friday morning is seeing some positive price action as well.  The OAS on the Corporate Index closed at 79 on Thursday April 16^th after closing the week prior at 80.  For context, the Index OAS is now several basis points better than where it was just prior to the beginning of the Iran conflict.  The 10yr Treasury ended last week at 4.32% and it closed at 4.31% on Thursday evening. Through Thursday, the Corporate Bond Index year-to-date total return was +0.34% and the yield to maturity for the index was 5.04%.

Points of Interest

The big theme of the week was the return of relative calm across risk assets.  The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) has come off sharply from recent highs.  VIX readings above 30 indicate high volatility while readings under 20 show periods of stability.

With no formal deal in place with Iran we remain somewhat skeptical about the speed with which equity markets have rebounded.  They should certainly be better relative to the lows but the situation remains tenuous at best and higher oil prices will weigh heavily on the consumer and certain sectors of the economy.

It was a light week for economic data with nothing earth shattering from a market movement perspective.  Existing home sales remained unsurprisingly sluggish amid an environment of higher mortgage rates for the past month.  Producer price inflation surprised slightly to the downside but the release had little market impact.  Next week brings a bit more excitement with additional housing data, retail sales, PMI and consumer sentiment data.  Looking further ahead, the next FOMC decision occurs on April 29^th.  As of Friday morning, Fed Funds Futures were pricing a >99% chance of no change in the policy rate at the upcoming meeting.

Primary Market

Subdued interest rate volatility brought issuers off the sidelines this week.  According to data compiled by Bloomberg, 21 companies priced over $57bln of new debt.  The largest banks in the US all posted earnings this week which allowed them to exit blackout periods with a green light to raise capital –banks alone accounted for $36.5bln of this week’s volume.[i]  Next week is expected to have a slower cadence, with syndicate desks estimating $20-$25bln of new supply as corporate issuers continue to work through a busy period for earnings.  Year-to-date new issue supply stood at $731bln through the end of the week.

Flows

According to LSEG Lipper, for the week ended April 15^th, short and intermediate investment-grade bond funds reported a net inflow of +$0.849bln. This comes after two consecutive weeks of outflows, which were the first incidents of negative flows since November 2025.  2026 year-to-date flows into investment grade were +$38.2bln.

This information is intended solely to report on investment strategies identified by Cincinnati Asset Management. Opinions and estimates offered constitute our judgment and are subject to change without notice, as are statements of financial market trends, which are based on current market conditions. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation to buy, hold or sell any financial instrument. Fixed income securities may be sensitive to prevailing interest rates. When rates rise the value generally declines. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

i Bloomberg, April 17 2026, “US IG OPEN: Bond Sales ON Pause After Big US Banks Boost Volume”

Credit spreads were tighter on the week through Thursday but Friday’s price action is indicating that the market will finish the period unchanged.  The OAS on the Corporate Index closed at 86 on Thursday March 26^th after closing the week prior at 87.  The 10yr Treasury ended last week at 4.38% and it closed at 4.41% on Thursday evening. Through Thursday, the Corporate Bond Index year-to-date total return was -1.20% and the yield to maturity for the index was 5.26%.

Points of Interest

It was another volatile week for risk assets with plenty of headlines to parse and lots of risk reversals depending on the social media post of the day (or minute) regarding Iran.  Equities continued to bear most of the brunt and IG credit was particularly well behaved.  Investment grade credit is lower on the risk spectrum relative to most other assets and higher yields have drawn investor interest which has helped support spreads.  On the economic front, it was a light week for meaningful data.  Next week things ramp up with consumer confidence, retail sales, vehicle sales and then finally the nonfarm payroll report on Friday morning.

Primary Market

New issue volume this week was $28.95bln, in line with the $30bln estimate.  Next week is expected to be light with an estimate of just $10bln in new supply.  Bond and equity markets are closed next Friday in observance of Good Friday.  Year-to-date new issue supply stood at $631bln through the end of the week.

Flows

According to LSEG Lipper, for the week ended March 24^th, short and intermediate investment-grade bond funds reported a net inflow of +$2.9bln. This was the 17^th consecutive week of inflows.  2026 year-to-date flows into investment grade were +$44.1bln.

This information is intended solely to report on investment strategies identified by Cincinnati Asset Management. Opinions and estimates offered constitute our judgment and are subject to change without notice, as are statements of financial market trends, which are based on current market conditions. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation to buy, hold or sell any financial instrument. Fixed income securities may be sensitive to prevailing interest rates. When rates rise the value generally declines. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Credit spreads were tighter this week.  The OAS on the Corporate Index closed at 88 on Thursday March 19^th after closing the week prior at 92.  Spreads were quite volatile throughout the period but the price action was downright orderly compared to most risk assets.  Equites are poised to finish lower for the 4^th consecutive week.  The 10yr Treasury ended last week at 4.28% and it closed at 4.25% on Thursday evening. The benchmark rate was sharply higher on Friday and was trading at 4.37% as we went to print on Friday afternoon.  Through Thursday, the Corporate Bond Index year-to-date total return was -0.36% and the yield to maturity for the index was 5.11%.

Points of Interest

Volatility took center stage once again as the war with Iran continued to drag on.  There was extensive damage to energy infrastructure in the middle east this week.  In one particular instance, QatarEnergy’s CEO commented that Iranian attacks had knocked out 17% of Qatar’s liquified natural gas export capacity for least three to five years, threatening supplies to Europe and Asia.[i]  In domestic news, the FOMC rate decision was the highlight of the week.  As expected, the committee left its policy rate unchanged.  Chairman Powell’s presser was interpreted as somewhat hawkish by investors as he showed little conviction regarding the path forward for interest rates. The mere fact that he did not squash the possibility of increasing the policy rate led the market to drastically reprice the path forward.  At the beginning of March, investors were pricing two rate cuts in 2026 while the Fed’s dot plot was calling for one.  Today, the market is pricing zero rate cuts in 2026 while the updated dot plot released on Wednesday was still predicting a single cut.  Bottom line, with the ongoing war, constantly changing tariffs, a tired US labor market and a spike in fuel prices, the path forward is now fraught with uncertainty.  If there is one thing that capital markets do not appreciate it is uncertainty.  This means volatility is here to stay.

Primary Market

New issue volume this week came in at $36.45bln versus projections of $40bln.  All of this supply occurred on Monday and Tuesday as issuers took a pass on Wednesday due to the FOMC and Thursday due to volatility.  Syndicate desks are looking for $30bln next week.  Year-to-date new issue supply stood at $602bln through the end of the week.

Flows

According to LSEG Lipper, for the week ended March 17^th, short and intermediate investment-grade bond funds reported a net inflow of +$4.79bln. This was the 16^th consecutive week of inflows.  2026 year-to-date flows into investment grade were +$41.3bln.

This information is intended solely to report on investment strategies identified by Cincinnati Asset Management. Opinions and estimates offered constitute our judgment and are subject to change without notice, as are statements of financial market trends, which are based on current market conditions. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation to buy, hold or sell any financial instrument. Fixed income securities may be sensitive to prevailing interest rates. When rates rise the value generally declines. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

[i] Reuters, March 19 2026, “Iran attacks wipe out 17% of Qatar’s LNG capacity for up to five years, QatarEnergy CEO says”

Credit spreads were meaningfully wider this week through Thursday, though the tone was positive with tighter spreads on Friday morning.  The OAS on the Corporate Index closed at 90 on Thursday March 12^th after closing the week prior at 83.  The 10yr Treasury ended last week at 4.14% and it closed at 4.26% on Thursday evening.  Through Thursday, the Corporate Bond Index year-to-date total return was -0.69% and the yield to maturity for the index was 5.11%.  It is worth noting that this week was the first time the corporate index yield closed above 5% since the last trading day of July 2025.

Points of Interest

It was another volatile week for risk assets as the conflict with Iran looks as though it could drag on for quite some time.  The implication for oil prices has been profound which has led to higher expectations for inflation and lower expectations for consumer spending.  There were some meaningful economic releases this week with Personal Income/Spending and Core PCE.  These were mostly in line with expectations but the problem is that this data was for the month of January and backward looking in nature.  It will be months before we know the full extent of the impact that higher energy prices will have on the economy.  Next Wednesday the FOMC will convene and deliver a decision on the policy rate.  Interest rate futures are pricing an extremely high probability that the Fed maintains the status quo. In fact, futures are not even pricing in a one full 25bp cut for the entirety of 2026.  Expectations can evolve rapidly but we believe that the Fed is on hold for the foreseeable future.

Primary Market

New issue supply was the big story of the week in the credit markets as issuers priced $115bln of new debt versus the estimate of $60bln.  It was the second busiest week on record, just trailing the $117bln that was priced in 2020.  Amazon, Honeywell and Salesforce led the way with three jumbo deals that accounted for $78bln of the total.  Amazon’s $37bln deal on Tuesday was the 4^th largest of all time and helped reach a new daily record for the US primary market of $65.75bln.  Remarkably, Amazon returned to market in Europe on Wednesday pricing €14.5 billion, the largest bond deal ever for that currency.  Syndicate desks are looking for around $40bln of issuance next week.  Year-to-date new issue supply stood at $565bln through the end of the week.

Flows

According to LSEG Lipper, for the week ended March 10^th, short and intermediate investment-grade bond funds reported a net inflow of +$3.28bln. This was the 15^th consecutive week of inflows.  2026 year-to-date flows into investment grade were +$36.5bln.

This information is intended solely to report on investment strategies identified by Cincinnati Asset Management. Opinions and estimates offered constitute our judgment and are subject to change without notice, as are statements of financial market trends, which are based on current market conditions. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation to buy, hold or sell any financial instrument. Fixed income securities may be sensitive to prevailing interest rates. When rates rise the value generally declines. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Credit spreads inched tighter this week on the back of strong demand.  Investors were motivated by a flight to quality and higher all-in yields.  The OAS on the Corporate Index closed at 81 on Thursday March 5^th after closing the week prior at 84.  Spreads are wider as we go to print on Friday morning as a result of a weak payroll report for the month of February so it is possible that the index finishes the week close to unchanged if the current trend holds.  The 10yr Treasury ended last week at 3.94% and it closed at 4.14% on Thursday evening.  Treasuries were volatile this week but generally higher across the board as investors anticipated inflationary impacts due to sharply higher oil prices as a result of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.  Through Thursday, the Corporate Bond Index year-to-date total return was +1.36% and the yield to maturity for the index was 4.88%.

Points of Interest

Volatility took center stage this week as investors gauged the severity and potential duration of the conflict with Iran and AI-related worries continued to weigh on certain sectors of the market.  Most commodity prices are now sharply higher with WTI and Brent crude both near $90/bbl (+50% YTD).  Monday and Tuesday corporate bond volume was well above average, especially for IG credit as investors were seeking safety and yield.  The big economic data this week did not hit until Friday morning with the payroll report and retail sales for the month of February.  Payrolls were extremely underwhelming with a -92k reduction for the month relative to a survey of +55k jobs added.  Some of the payroll weakness could be related to poor weather and ongoing labor strikes but it was a weak print any way you slice it and took the shine off January’s relatively good report (+126k revised vs +65k estimate).  Retail sales on the other hand came in a bit better than expectations, especially considering the poor weather across most of the US during February.  The headline number was -0.2% vs the -0.3% survey but the control group showed modestly positive sales growth of +0.4%.

Primary Market

New issue supply hit >$50bln again this week but fell short of the $70bln estimate.  Issuers took a breather on Monday and Tuesday due to spread and rate volatility but then returned in a big way on Wednesday and Thursday.  All told it was a respectable week from a volume perspective considering the bulk of that occurred over the course of just two trading days.  Syndicate desks are looking for around $60bln of issuance next week.  Year-to-date new issue supply stood at $450bln through the end of the week.

Flows

According to LSEG Lipper, for the week ended March 3^rd, short and intermediate investment-grade bond funds reported a net inflow of +$1.88bln. This was the 14^th consecutive week of inflows.  2026 year-to-date flows into investment grade were +$33.2bln.

This information is intended solely to report on investment strategies identified by Cincinnati Asset Management. Opinions and estimates offered constitute our judgment and are subject to change without notice, as are statements of financial market trends, which are based on current market conditions. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation to buy, hold or sell any financial instrument. Fixed income securities may be sensitive to prevailing interest rates. When rates rise the value generally declines. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Credit spreads moved wider this week.  The OAS on the Corporate Index closed at 82 on Thursday February 26^th after closing the week prior at 77.  The 10yr Treasury closed last week at 4.08% and had closed at 4.0% on Thursday before breaching 4% on Friday morning.  If the current level holds, today will be the first time the 10yr has closed below 4% since the end of November.  Through Thursday, the Corporate Bond Index year-to-date total return was +1.36% while the yield to maturity for the index was 4.75%.

Points of Interest

There was a lot happening in the market this week as AI-related woes continued to weigh heavily on certain sectors of the equity market, with software companies leading the way lower.  The equity malaise, along with geopolitical worries surrounding Iran, sparked a flight to quality which sent Treasury yields lower.  Next week investors will receive important economic data including Employment and Retail Sales from USA and Europe.  We also get US ISM Services and a flurry of earnings reports from major retailers (COST, TGT) that will help investors gauge the pulse of the American consumer.

Primary Market

New issue supply sailed past the $50bln estimate this week as companies priced more than $63bln in the primary market.  Although spreads have moved wider they have not fully offset the move lower in Treasuries making the funding environment incrementally more attractive for would be issuers.  Next week is expected to be another big one as syndicate desks are looking for $70bln of new debt.  Year-to-date new issue supply stood at $399.6bln through the end of the week.

Flows

According to LSEG Lipper, for the week ended February 25^th, short and intermediate investment-grade bond funds reported a net inflow of +$1.75bln. This was the 13^th consecutive week of inflows, although it was less volume than the past few weeks.  2026 year-to-date flows into investment grade were +$31.3bln.  The pace of flows is double the number of YTD flows to this point in 2025.

This information is intended solely to report on investment strategies identified by Cincinnati Asset Management. Opinions and estimates offered constitute our judgment and are subject to change without notice, as are statements of financial market trends, which are based on current market conditions. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation to buy, hold or sell any financial instrument. Fixed income securities may be sensitive to prevailing interest rates. When rates rise the value generally declines. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.