“We think it’s the time to aggressively restructure the balance sheet, lower our interest costs, and really clear the decks for 2022 and beyond."
The Fed's latest moves in response to the coronavirus crisis take it "well beyond the lender-of-last-resort functions it played" during the Great Recession.
The company's first junk issue is a bet that "bond investors will be as hungry as stock investors to back" Tesla as it ramps up production of the Model 3.
S&P says continued stress on the energy sector from the oil price slump will drive defaults, offset somewhat by a likely delay in any interest rate hikes.
Moody's cites "deteriorating credit conditions especially in commodity sectors such as oil & gas and metals & mining."
The credit ratings agency forecast that the junk default rate will be 4% this year, up from 3.5% in 2015.
Moody's Investors Service said its Liquidity Stress Index (LSI) jumped to 7.9% in January from 6.8% in December 2015.
More than 200 speculative-grade issuers have been downgraded by S&P this year.
Still, given the fall in energy prices, Moody's expects the speculative-grade default rate to rise to 3.1% in 2016.
