There Goes the Cheap Money: In Enron's wake, borrowers turn from commercial paper to longer-term debt

Since the fall of Enron, Moody's Investors Service, Standard & Poor's, and other rating agencies have applied tougher scrutiny to corporate balance sheets - effectively pushing many borrowers out of the volatile short-term lending market. At the same time, the prospect of economic recovery has convinced most execs that a rise in interest rates is inevitable. The combination has sent chief financial officers scrambling to shore up balance sheets with more stable debt and lock in today's low rates while they can. The trouble is, bolstering the balance sheet with more stable debt comes at a considerable expense.