Is it the calm before the storm? Or time to gear up for the final stretch to earn that bonus? 

Either could be the case. Because while new debt issuance was slow in the penultimate week before Labor Day, signs point to the M&A machine revving up, which in turn bodes well for both the broadly syndicated and private debt pipelines. 

For example, 9fin reported this week that Audax Private Equity tapped bankers including Jefferies to sell its portfolio company FDH Aero, with syndicated and private credit financing packages possible.