Continental Airlines Inc., poised to merge with United Airlines to become the world’s biggest carrier, is marketing five-year notes as debt sales surpass $10 billion for the third day in a month.

Continental plans to sell $750 million of senior secured first-lien notes in part to repay bank debt, it said yesterday in a statement distributed by PR Newswire. Companies sold $12 billion of debt yesterday, the most since $12.9 billion on July 21, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Volume topped $10 billion on July 7 and June 21.

Yesterday’s issuance came as companies take advantage of low rates and investor demand for yield amid modest economic growth expectations. James Barnes, a fixed-income portfolio manager at Wyomissing, Pennsylvania-based National Penn Investors Trust Co., said companies are taking advantage of the “level of comfort investors have for corporate bonds” coupled with tight spreads to low-yielding Treasuries.

“They’re getting financing really cheap — so cheap it doesn’t matter if they need the money today or not,” said Barnes, who manages $1 billion of investment-grade assets. “It’s an opportunity for corporations to hit the capital markets and raise additional funds and keep them to the side until they actually need them.” [Read More]