Investment Grade vs High Yield: Ratings, Spreads, Defaults
Investment grade vs high-yield bonds explained: the BBB-/Baa3 cutoff, credit spreads, default rates, and recovery — what actually separates the two.
Investment grade vs high-yield bonds explained: the BBB-/Baa3 cutoff, credit spreads, default rates, and recovery — what actually separates the two.
Investment-grade credit spreads compressed to 79 basis points in May 2026, near their tightest in over three years, as companies race to lock in cheap borrowing costs.
Meta, Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft will spend ~$700B on AI in 2026 — debt-funding is flooding the investment-grade bond market with record supply.
The difference between investment grade and junk bonds comes down to credit ratings, spreads, and default risk. Here’s how to read the credit market’s most important signals.