US nonfinancial companies rated by Moody's were sitting on $5.7 trillion of debt as of the end of June. End of easy moneyThe corporate debt concerns reflect growing worries on Wall Street about the eventual demise of the economic expansion. 'Elevated' corporate credit riskThe Office of Financial Research, a Treasury Department bureau created after the 2008 financial crisis, recently flagged corporate debt as a potential problem. "US nonfinancial corporate credit risk is elevated," the OFR warned in its annual report to Congress last month. More than $1 trillion of leveraged loans are outstanding, marking a record 11% of all US nonfinancial debt, according to the OFR.

Source: CNN December 19, 2018 12:31 UTC