Bonds

Rhode Island General Treasurer Seth Magaziner announced his run for governor on Tuesday in front of the under-construction Henry J. Winters Elementary School in Pawtucket. Magaziner, 38 and a Democrat, did so to underscore voter passage in 2018 of a $250 million school building bond that he championed. “I believe the future of our state

The municipal primary was the focus Tuesday with large deals repricing to lower yields while the secondary market took a backseat with benchmark curves little changed even as U.S. Treasuries rallied and stocks sold off. Triple-A benchmarks saw a basis point bump in spots while U.S. Treasury yields fell five basis points on the 10-

With the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks still fresh in our minds, Michael Barasch, managing partner at Barasch & McGarry, says less than 8% of the civilians who were in Lower Manhattan that day and the months after have registered for free federal programs offering health care protections and benefits. Municipal bond industry workers

Municipals were little changed ahead of a $10 billion-plus new-issue week as California offered $2 billion of general obligation bonds to retail investors and the market considered the municipal bond provisions offered from Washington. Triple-A benchmarks reported steady levels while U.S. Treasuries improved and equities also improved. “The municipal market is relatively unchanged and not

Municipal market advocates got great news over the weekend when the House Committee on Ways and Means unveiled tax provisions granting all their major wish list items, and now they have to be prepared to fight for the continued inclusion of those items as Congress moves forward on the Democrats’ massive budget reconciliation package. Committee

First of two parts Visceral memories of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City — and more positively, the response from the capital markets — linger 20 years later. The anniversary comes as the city is trying to emerge from a newer crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, generational

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the release of $2.75 billion to support the state’s Homekey project Thursday. The program provides money to local governments to build permanent supportive housing for unhoused people. It’s estimated the additional funding could build up to 14,000 housing units for people exiting homelessness, said Newsom, who called it the largest

Almost two dozen amicus briefs have been filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in the past 10 days in favor of granting Supplemental Security Income benefits to Puerto Ricans and other territorial residents, with oral arguments set for Nov. 8. Providing the payments would mean an additional $1 billion in federal transfers to Puerto Ricans

VanEck launched a municipal exchange-traded fund with a sustainability designation, the first ETF of its kind in the municipal space. The VanEck HIP Sustainable Municipal fund, SMI ticker, introduced Friday, is an actively managed fund focusing on investment-grade state and local government debt that funds projects promoting sustainable development, including affordable housing, green spaces and

Municipal bonds were little changed, ignoring another reversal in U.S. Treasuries on Friday ahead of a larger-than-average $10 billion-plus calendar led by California, Texas and New York issuers. Triple-A benchmarks were unmoved again Friday while the 10-year UST rose four basis points and the 30-year four. As such, ratios fell slightly with the 10-year muni-to-Treasury

Municipals were little changed, underperforming a U.S. Treasury rate reversal from Wednesday as all eyes were on the primary with Minnesota selling $897 million of general obligation bonds to strong reception. Triple-A benchmarks were unmoved while the 10-year UST fell four basis points and the 30-year five. As such, ratios rose slightly with the 10-year

The presidents of the Federal Reserve banks of Boston and Dallas said Thursday they would sell their individual stock holdings by Sept. 30 and invest the proceeds in diversified index funds or hold them in cash. The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve buildingBloomberg News Eric Rosengren, head of the Boston Fed, and Robert Kaplan, president

Title: Director Public Finance — Credit StrategyFirm: Wells FargoAge: 39 Kristen Fontana always had an affinity for the policy side of public finance. After dipping her toes into public finance with an internship at an investment bank during the financial crisis, she decided to go back to school for a graduate degree. There, Kristen said,

The Puerto Rico Planning Board is more optimistic for economic growth for the next 10 years than the Oversight Board is in its adopted fiscal plan. This Planning Board, the local government body that analyzes economic data and makes economic and demographic projections, expects an average 1.04% real Gross National Product growth from fiscal 2022

Municipals were little changed to a touch weaker out longer Tuesday, outperforming U.S. Treasuries, which saw yields rise as much as five basis points, while equities were mixed on the day. Ratios fell slightly out longer with the municipal to UST 10-year ratio at 70% and the 30-year at 77%, per Refinitiv MMD. The 10-year

Melissa Norcia was appointed the chief administrative officer for the California State Teachers’ Retirement System on Tuesday. Norcia starts September 15 and replaces Lisa Blatnick, who became CalSTRS chief operating officer in August. CalSTRS was established by law in 1913 to provide retirement benefits to California’s public school educators from prekindergarten through community college. Today,

As California coastal cities look for methods to avert the harsh realities of the state’s second drought in a decade, desalination has returned as a hot topic. In San Diego County, the drought makes the argument that the controversial choice to build a coastside desalination plant was correct. The Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant

Chicago’s finance team dug in this week on it plan to scrap $950 million of scoop-and-toss borrowing amid pushback from council members who want the city to put more federal COVID-19 pandemic relief toward social investments. Several council members pressed Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s finance team to consider some limited form of debt restructuring to free

The catastrophic remnants of Hurricane Ida snuck up on Northeast states Wednesday, catching officials and the general population off-guard. But such a storm, still delivering massive amounts of rain more than 1,300 miles from its Louisiana landfall, is no outlier, one New Jersey climate official warned. “It may be a different animal, as you put

In a prolonged low-interest-rate environment, many issuers may have paid little heed to arbitrage on bond proceeds. But that could change, and municipal advisors and bond counsel are staying vigilant on their clients’ behalf. “Declining interest rates make it generally easier to manage arbitrage,” said Adam Harden, partner at Locke Lord in Texas. “Post-issuance compliance