Abdullah Karatash

It was a busy day on the heels of a headline heavy weekend.

Stocks closed lightly in the red while corporate credit was surprisingly resilient despite the heavy corporate bond new issue pipeline.

The DSK headline took the market by surprise; a friend suggested that DSK's legal team could use the "Rocco Siffredi" defense in a creative play on the "Twinkie defense" (for those familiar with the Harvey Milk proceedings).

With DSK out of the political picture, all eyes are now on Marine le Pen.

On this side of the Atlantic, there is increasing chatter about the U.S. debt picture; most pundits seem to miss the basic fact that a default for the U.S. is close to impossible.

In a worst case scenario, the U.S. can simply print its way out of any mess.

In corporate bond new issues, the utilities were active.

Duke Energy tapped the markets with a $500 million 10yr FMB (first mortgage bond) at +75.

Utility Great Plains Energy also tapped the markets with a $350 million 10 year issue at +170.

Rail operator Burlington Northern sold $500 million of 30 year debt at +115 and $250 million of 10 year debt at +100.

Cash-rich Google tapped the markets selling $3 billion of debt in a deal that was heavily over-subscribed: $1 billion 10 year at +58, $1 billion 5 year at +58, and $1 billion 3 year at +33.

Not to be outdone, Texas Instruments sold $1 billion of 5 year bonds at +60, $1 billion of 3 year bonds at +50, and $500 million of 2 year debt at +37.5.

Housing start numbers are out tomorrow.