The first half of the calendar year in the debt capital market was a tale of two quarters: a strong first quarter, and a poor second. After two 25 basis point cuts in November and December last year, the RBA held firm on the official cash rate through the first quarter but by May the rot had set in, and a 50 basis points cut was required, followed by a further 25 bps last month. At the start of the year the cash rate was at 4.25 per cent. It is now at 3.50 per cent.One of the big stories of the first half has been the collapse in bond yields. The July 2022 Commonwealth government bond started 2012 yielding 3.7875 per cent. It ended June with a yield of just 3.0350 per cent.The Aussie iTraxx index - one measure of the price of the price of credit for Australian names - opened the year at 183 bps and closed the first half at 188 bps. In between though, it has been as low as 127 bps in mid-March and as high as 200 bps at the end of May. Credit markets remain fairly pessimistic, thanks primarily to the drawn out funding dilemmas of European banks and sovereigns.As for the corporate bond market, issuance for the first half totals A$49 billion, which is a little behind the A$53 billion seen in the first half of 2011. On a positive note, issuance exceeds maturities in the first half by A$9 billion, which means net issuance is twice that seen in 2011 in total.Across the Tasman, issuance for the first half totals NZ$5.4 billion, exceeding the NZ$4.7 billion seen in the first half of 2011, and more than covers the NZ$2.3 billion of maturities.