Bonds

After two consecutive years of investors pulling money from muni mutual funds, January has gotten off to a better start as the market has seen the return on inflows.  “The driver of the improvement in net fund flows is not necessarily new buyers coming into the market; it’s the conclusion of tax loss swap selling

Municipals were lightly traded and little changed Friday ahead of a smaller new-issue calendar amid the Federal Open Market Committee meeting while U.S. Treasuries were weaker. Equities were mixed to close the session. Rates have continued creeping higher and muni yields have been following, as the “positive effect of the year-end technicals has finally started

Guam’s issuer rating was raised to investment grade by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited significant military construction and other federal government support. Moody’s upgraded Guam’s issuer rating, general obligation bonds, hotel occupancy tax bonds, and business privilege tax bonds to Baa3 from Ba1 and raised the COPs to Ba1 from Ba2. The outlook is stable.

Municipals saw a more constructive secondary trading session Thursday and mutual funds reported the third consecutive week of inflows while U.S. Treasuries improved. Stocks continued to break records after another report of hotter economic data, which is leading more participants to pare back rate cut timing expectations. LSEG Lipper reported Thursday that investors added $210.6

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green highlighted $373 million of infrastructure and housing spending in his supplemental fiscal 2025 budget, calling it his administration’s top statewide priority during his State of the State speech. He also renewed a call for a climate change impact fee expected to collect $50 million that he said would have helped cover

Municipals were little changed Wednesday amid another busy primary session as U.S. Treasury yields rose throughout most of the curve and equities ended up. Despite municipal performance being in the red to start to 2023, municipal mutual funds continue to see inflows. The Investment Company Institute Wednesday reported more inflows into municipal bond mutual funds

An appeals court ruling against Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bondholders may hold positives for them, analysts say. The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit panel of three judges on Monday rejected GoldenTree Asset Management and Syncora Guarantee’s motion to lift the bankruptcy’s stay, which would have allowed the bondholders to appoint

Municipals were weaker in spots amid an active primary market that saw a billion-dollar-plus retail order from the Regents of the University of California price and Washington sell just shy of $1 billion general obligation bonds in the competitive market. U.S. Treasury yields rose and equities were mixed near the close. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio

A California plan to build a tunnel for freshwater to bypass the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta has run into a legal obstacle. A Sacramento County Superior Court judge has denied the California Department of Water Resources request to validate $16 billion in bonds to finance the Delta Conveyance Project. The Delta tunnel project would divert

Municipals were mixed Monday ahead of a heavy new-issue slate while U.S. Treasuries were better and equities saw smaller gains after last week’s record-breaking moves. Munis continue to struggle in 2024, with the asset class seeing negative returns of 1.01% so far this year. This is a turnaround “from the last quarter of 2023 in

A Congress that just narrowly avoided a government shutdown is getting a fresh wish list from a wide cross section of organizations of issuers, including calls for preserving the tax exemption on municipal bonds.   The letter originates from the Public Finance Network, which encompasses twenty-four issuer organizations including the Government Finance Officers Association, the National

Federal transportation and housing funding will continue to flow until early March after Congress late Thursday passed a short-term appropriations bill a day ahead of a partial government shutdown. “There will not be a shutdown on Friday,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “Because both sides have worked together, the government will stay open.

The Illinois Supreme Court Friday upheld pension consolidation legislation championed by Gov. JB Pritzker that was challenged in court by more than a dozen suburban and downstate police and firefighter pension funds.  The case, Arlington Heights Police Pension Fund et al. v. JB Pritzker et al., had pitted the governor and General Assembly against a

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority staff came under fire from their own auditor general for misleading communications and a “breach of transparency” regarding cost overruns and delays on the $12.2 billion San Jose extension of the Bay Area Rapid Transit District. The project would extend BART, a commuter railway, through downtown San Jose into Santa

Municipal bonds were slightly weaker Friday ahead of an $8.4 billion new-issue calendar and the last full week of January. U.S. Treasuries were mixed on the day while equities saw another session of gains as markets continue to digest the unlikelihood of any Federal Reserve rate cuts in the first quarter. Triple-A yields rose two

A trial over Missouri’s first-of-their-kind ESG investment rules will go ahead after a federal judge this month rejected the state’s motion to dismiss. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association sued the Show Me State last August over a pair of four-month-old anti-environmental, social and governance securities rules. The measures require advisors and broker-dealers to

Municipals were weaker Thursday amid another busy new-issue day while municipal bond mutual funds reported inflows. U.S. Treasuries yields rose and equities were up near the close. Muni yields rose up to eight basis points, depending on the scale, while UST yields rose up to six basis points at 30 years. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio

HilltopSecurities hired six former UBS professionals as part of a wider plan to expand its public finance footprint. “We remain committed to adding professionals nationwide to our public finance business who offer a full product solution set to their clients,” said Brad Winges, president of HilltopSecurities. “This is the first group of many hires that

Lake Erie College, a small private school in Ohio, entered into a forbearance agreement with bondholders after the school didn’t meet certain covenants it agreed to as part of a debt sale.  The Painesville, Ohio-based institution, which has just over 700 undergraduate students, is the latest small college to see its financial struggles extend into

Municipals faced rising yields in the secondary market Wednesday while large new-issues priced in the primary market. U.S. Treasuries were weaker again, and equities saw more losses. The Investment Company Institute Wednesday reported large inflows into municipal bond mutual funds for the week ending Jan. 10, with investors adding $2.066 billion to funds following $77