What This Dashboard Tracks
The Investment Grade Credit Monitor follows the public market indicators that shape financing conditions for high-quality corporate issuers. It combines the ICE BofA US Corporate Index option-adjusted spread with Treasury benchmarks and public issuance statistics so readers can separate changes in risk-free rates from changes in corporate credit compensation.
Core Data Series
Investment-Grade Option-Adjusted Spread: The ICE BofA US Corporate Index OAS measures the additional yield on investment-grade corporate bonds over a duration-matched Treasury curve. Widening indicates that investors are demanding more compensation for corporate credit and liquidity risk; tightening indicates stronger demand and easier market access.
Treasury Curve: Federal Reserve H.15 Treasury yields provide the base-rate component of all-in corporate borrowing costs. A stable spread can still coincide with a material change in financing cost when Treasury yields move.
Corporate Bond Issuance: Public issuance totals and maturity composition provide a view of how readily companies can fund acquisitions, refinance maturities, and term out bank debt. Issuance activity is interpreted alongside spread and Treasury levels rather than as a standalone risk signal.
How to Read It
The combination matters. Higher Treasury yields with stable OAS represents a base-rate repricing; widening OAS alongside rising Treasury yields is a broader tightening in corporate financing conditions. Strong issuance during volatile markets can indicate that high-quality borrowers retain access even when lower-rated issuers face constraints.
Sources: ICE BofA US Corporate Index via FRED; Federal Reserve H.15; SIFMA U.S. Corporate Bond Issuance Statistics; SEC EDGAR corporate debt filings.