Bonds

Municipals were very lightly traded, particularly out long, giving little direction to triple-A benchmark yields and leading to another day of outperformance of the asset class to the volatility in U.S. Treasuries and equities. Triple-A benchmark scales were mixed with Refinitiv MMD leaving its scale unchanged, while IHS Markit, ICE Data Services and Bloomberg BVAL

With the recent passage of infrastructure legislation in Washington, I am reminded how important the tax-exempt municipal market is to our nation’s ability to finance infrastructure through the multitude of municipal issuers across the country. At the same time, I am perplexed as to why municipal market issuance has been stuck in the range of

Shortly after her swearing in as Boston mayor, Michelle Wu acted on her signature campaign theme, free transit rides. Sidestepping the state-run Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, Wu asked the City Council to approve the use of $8 million in federal rescue funding to expand a pilot program for two more years, to backstop rides on

Municipals strengthened as much as three basis points on Friday as Treasuries rose in a flight-to-safety bid while stock prices plunged on fears that a coronavirus resurgence could derail the economic recovery in the U.S. and around the world. “With the news out of the World Health Organization that a new and powerful COVID variant

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed two executive orders laying the groundwork to speed up lead service line replacement and road and bridge spending once the state begins receiving its share of the $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure package. Michigan is set to receive about $10 billion over five years from the package signed by President Biden,

If the Build Back Better legislation under consideration in the Senate becomes law, the cash would start to flow in late 2022 and peak in 2025. In reports released this week, Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings outlined the expected cash flow of the bill and its impact on the fiscal and economic position of

The Puerto Rico bankruptcy judge is likely to approve the Oversight Board-proposed Plan of Adjustment or something close to it this winter, observers and analysts say. While participants hoped the plan would be effective by Dec. 15 (a deadline in the bondholder Plan Support Agreement), on Nov. 17 the U.S. Attorney General asked for a

Municipals ended Wednesday where they began the week — unchanged — as traders’ minds were on a meal rather than munis. While the market reopens on Friday, shops will only have a skeleton staff on duty during the abbreviated post-Thanksgiving trading session with the next real test of benchmark levels taking place on Monday. Economic

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said Federal Reserve policy makers are signaling a “new era” in which they recognize the U.S. economy is overheating as inflation runs at its fastest in three decades. Speaking on Bloomberg Television, Summers said that Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and Gov. Lael Brainard this week used rhetoric that “portends

Bankruptcy Judge Laura Taylor Swain will give the U.S. Department of Justice until early February to file opinions on the constitutionality of the law that was the basis for the restructuring deal, meaning a final decision on the Puerto Rico Plan of Adjustment may be pushed into 2022. Swain gave the District Attorney until Jan.

Chicago will have its eye on which among five bids offers the best odds for fiscal and economic gains as it takes the next step in picking a developer to build and operate a casino and resort complex. The city received five proposals from potential developers and operators by a late October deadline. On Friday,

Municipals were lightly traded and outperformed a large sell-off in U.S. Treasuries while equities were mixed following President Biden’s decision to renominate Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve Chairman. Since Powell is seen “as slightly less dovish than [Lael] Brainard, more rate hikes and more immediacy of those hikes is making its way into the yield

Last week’s intervention by the city of New York to disqualify a law firm from a qui tam case involving alleged price fixing of municipal bonds brings conflicts of interest to the forefront of already prolonged and complex litigation. Managing conflicts of interest is not only important for attorneys but for municipal advisors as well,

Los Angeles City Controller Ron Galperin released an audit Wednesday showing the city has failed to keep its legally binding promise to repair its 9,000 miles of sidewalks. A legal settlement finalized in 2016 requires the city to spend $1.37 billion over 30 years to address broken sidewalks, inaccessible curb ramps and other access barriers

COVID-19 stimulus spending caused 2021 state expenditure estimates to sky-rocket to the highest level in 35 years. That was according to the Fiscal 2019-2021 State Expenditure Report released by the National Association of State Budget Officers Friday. Total state spending reached $2.65 trillion in fiscal year 2021, a jump from the $2.28 trillion observed in

A federal request for a 10- to 15-week pause in the Puerto Rico Plan of Adjustment confirmation process as well as the related constitutional challenge to the underlying bankruptcy law may threaten the Puerto Rico debt deal. Five attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice, led by Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton, asked Puerto

The Securities and Exchange Commission Friday censured a McKinsey & Co. affiliate and ordered it to pay $18 million to settle allegations that MIO Partners had access to material nonpublic information about issuers, including Puerto Rico, while it was overseeing investments that included the issuers’ securities. Active partners at McKinsey acting as restructuring consultants for

Municipals were stronger Friday on the back of the U.S. Treasury rally amid concerns of rising COVID-19 outbreaks in Europe. Triple-A benchmarks were bumped by one to three basis points beginning around the five-year mark with the larger moves out longer, but the asset class underperformed the five- to six-basis point moves in UST. Ratios

The House on Friday passed the Build Back Better Act, teeing up a fresh round of work in the Senate that municipal market advocates hope will offer a chance to further amend the bill to include muni priorities. The $1.7 trillion, 2,100-page measure, President Joe Biden’s signature social and climate spending package, passed to cheers

During a contentious meeting of the Louisiana Bond Commission Thursday, J.P. Morgan Chase was disqualified from underwriting a $700 million bond refinancing due to unanswered questions about its gun policies. State Treasurer John Schroder and his staff announced the decision to recommend that Wells Fargo Corporate & Investment Banking underwrite the deal after he said