Bonds

Tackling California’s housing crisis and alleviating the financial blow of rising gas prices and inflation are hot button issues as the governor’s May budget revision draws near. Gov. Gavin Newsom promised a gas tax rebate in his State of the State speech Tuesday night and unveiled a CARE Court program last week aimed at getting

Detroit’s post-Chapter 9 fiscal progress despite the COVID-19 pandemic’s revenue blows drew an upgrade from Moody’s Investors Service that moves the city two notches away from investment grade. Moody’s raised the rating Wednesday one notch to Ba2 from Ba3 and signaled by leaving a positive outlook on the rating that another upgrade could be in

Puerto Rico bankruptcy Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the Oversight Board to take quick action to advance a new deal for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, after the governor killed the existing deal Tuesday. In her order on Tuesday evening, Swain rejected the requests of the Ad Hoc Group of PREPA Bondholders and yet

With the House poised Wednesday to follow President Biden’s action to ban Russian energy imports, a group of Democratic governors pressed Congress to suspend the federal gas tax to ease pressure on U.S. drivers. The House is set to vote as soon as Wednesday afternoon on bipartisan legislation that would ban the import of Russian

Municipals were weaker Monday along with U.S. Treasuries while stocks sold off on the ongoing crisis in the Ukraine. Triple-A yield curves saw two to five basis point cuts while UST yields rose up to six basis points, paring back some of Friday’s gains. Municipal to UST ratios showed the five-year at to 81% (down

Disgruntled fans have filed a pair of lawsuits against the National Football League seeking damages for moving the San Diego Chargers to Los Angeles. The most recent complaint, filed in San Diego Superior Court in mid-February, contains allegations similar to those in a separate lawsuit filed in January. Robert Kirkbright, a five-year season ticket holder

Budget season has kicked off in New York City as the first public comments on the nearly $100 billion spending plan were heard this week. The city is in good financial shape, analysts said, thanks in part to federal aid. The City Council on Wednesday began the first of a series of public hearings that

Idaho school districts will ask voters to approve $288.4 million of bonds and tax levies during Tuesday’s election to help districts deal with enrollment growth. The state has experienced rapid population growth over the past several years that has transformed its metropolitan areas from small towns into fast-paced cities. The state’s population has grown by

A pair of high-profile public-private partnership projects will advance after winning key federal loans this week. Maryland’s Purple Line light rail project received a $1.7 billion Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan and the Capital Beltway Express LLC got a $1.05 billion loan. Both loans will be used in part to refinance outstanding TIFIA

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit set the hearing for a stay on the Puerto Rico Plan of Adjustment for Wednesday after several teachers’ associations filed the request. On Friday the Appeals Court gave until 5 p.m. on Sunday for the Puerto Rico Oversight Board to respond to the teachers’ request for

Municipals ended the week mixed, while the swings in U.S. Treasuries continued and equities sold off as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine escalates. Triple-A yield curves saw one to four basis point cuts while UST yields fell up to 12 basis points on the 10-year, with ratios inching closer to 100% as a result. Municipal to

The White House is rejecting Republican demands to split up its nominees to the Federal Reserve, with President Biden’s spokeswoman telling GOP lawmakers to show up and vote no on Sarah Bloom Raskin rather than further stalling consideration. “All five of our nominees, including Sarah Bloom Raskin, are well qualified for these positions and we’re

WASHINGTON — Democratic senators continued their campaign to advance the Biden administration’s Federal Reserve nominees out of the Senate Banking Committee, while Republicans argued the central bank is operating just fine without them. Amid testimony Thursday morning from Jerome Powell, chair pro tempore of the Federal Reserve, Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee assailed their

Another day of losses for municipals on Thursday as U.S. Treasuries fluctuated throughout the session, equities were back in the red while another round of outflows were reported from municipal bond mutual funds. Triple-A yield curves saw three to seven basis point cuts, with the larger losses out long, while UST reversed earlier losses to

Municipals saw small cuts to triple-A yield curves, outperforming large losses in U.S. Treasuries, while equities rebounded from two days of large losses after Fed Chair Jerome Powell told Congress a 25-basis point hike is likely this month. Triple-A yields rose one to three basis points across yield curves while UST saw yields rise 17

Oppenheimer & Co. launched a municipal restructuring group Wednesday in response to a rise in high-yield municipal bond defaults as more transactions show impairments. The 18-member group will be headed by Eric Scroggins, co-head of debt advisory and restructuring, and Bill Reisner, head of public finance investment banking. Depending on the deal, the group can

State and local officials defended their use of stimulus funds against Republican claims that the money has done more to stimulate inflation than the economy during a House oversight hearing on Tuesday. “Roughly one year into the pandemic, the American Rescue Plan injected a burst of resources into the national economy at a critical time,”

Municipals improved on Tuesday as the U.S. Treasury flight-to-safety bid continued and equities sold off on the escalating turmoil in the Ukraine. Municipal yields fell three to six basis points across triple-A yield curves while five- and 10-year USTs saw yields fall 14 and 11 basis points, respectively. Municipal to UST ratios rose as a

Municipals were flat to firmer in spots, underperforming the U.S. Treasury flight-to-safety rally while stocks ended mixed after much larger losses throughout the day in dramatic swings on continued war in Ukraine. Triple-A benchmarks were little changed to bumped by a basis point or two while UST rallied 10 to 15 basis points with the

If Russian hackers target the U.S. as retribution for economic sanctions prompted by its invasion of Ukraine, it could mean more harmful and longer-term cyberattacks than the public sector has experienced previously. “We remain concerned about the potential for cyberattacks on U.S. public finance related targets such as utilities, infrastructure and state and local governments,”