Perhaps Wall Street analysts spoke too soon when they predicted2017 would mark the slowdown of an unprecedented boom in corporatecredit. Last month, bankers and investors told Bloomberg's ClaireBoston that they expected U.S. investment-grade bond sales tofinally slow after six consecutive years of unprecedented issuance.But the exact opposite seems to be happening, at least if the firstfew days of 2017 are any guide. Debt sales are accelerating, withthe biggest volumes of issuance ever for the first week of January,according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

And investors are showing as muchappetite for the bonds as ever. They poured $2.3 billion into U.S.investment-grade bond funds over the past week, the biggest flowsince early October, according to Wells Fargo Securities.

This may just be a blip leading to a gradual slowdown in sales,but there are several reasons 2017 may be another banner year forinvestment-grade sales: 1) Money has been cheap for years, with theFederal Reserve holding benchmark overnight rates at zero. But thattime appears to be ending, for real this time because wages areincreasing and inflation is returning. The Fed is planning to raiserates several times this year, and 10-year Treasury yields havebeen generally rising. So companies may want to lock in the lowrates while they can.