The number of large M&A deals appears to be trending upward, with four deal announcements in the last week over $2 billion. Still, the volume and value of debt issuances may have the most momentum now.

This Deal Watch column started tracking debt offerings about a year ago, as more large law firms competed for the work and were announcing their work on the deals. The number of announced deal offerings hit an all-time high for this column in the last week, with no fewer than 20. The amounts of the issuances were also remarkable, with two of those issuances valued at over $13.5 billion.