Lawrence Gillum

Corporate bonds are generally viewed as riskier than government bonds, so they tend to pay higher yields.

But when it comes to big tech companies, investors don't see that much more risk.

So when it comes to the interest on their bonds?

That's Lawrence Gillum at LPL Financial.

He says the rates big tech companies pay could always go up.

For instance, if a big wave of new corporate bonds floods the market, supply might outweigh demand.

In other words, pay more interest to attract more investment.

And if that happens, investors who'd otherwise pour money into the safety of government bonds could be persuaded to throw some money at the corporate sector.

Anna Cieslak is a finance professor at Duke University.

She says if investors start to favor corporate bonds over treasuries, the interest rate the government pays to borrow could be affected too.

That, in turn, could make all kinds of consumer borrowing more expensive.

Mortgages, credit cards, auto loans.

But Cieslak says that's not guaranteed.

For one, corporate bond yields might not rise if there's enough demand for that debt.

Plus, there are many other factors that could also influence bond yields this year.

Stock market volatility, inflation expectations, tariff uncertainty.

Zachary Griffiths at the research company Credit Sites says if growth slows this year, government bond yields could actually fall.

But either way, the sheer amount of new debt expected to hit the market this year will affect rates.

Lawrence Gillum at LPL Financial says the Treasury Department is also going to issue trillions of dollars worth of new debt.

Especially, he says, if companies keep selling trillions of dollars of bonds.