Category: Bonds

Federal authorities Thursday gave final environmental approval to Maryland’s plan to add four toll lanes to the Capital Beltway. Gov. Larry Hogan’s signature project, which he hopes to deliver as a public private partnership, can now move toward finalizing a 50-year contract with Accelerate Maryland Partners, a consortium that’s led by Australian firms Transurban and…

Former Stifel banker James Cervantes was appointed chair of the California Housing Finance Agency’s board of directors by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Cervantes, who joined the board earlier this year, retired from Stifel in October 2020. He was a Stifel California managing director and, for a time, ran Stone & Youngberg, acquired by Stifel in 2011.…

U.S. Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority CEO Andrew Smith said he expects a court will order WAPA to repay employee pension contributions over time despite the pension organization’s suit demanding immediate repayment. The repayment plan would be to pay off the $2.2 million in past due employee contributions to the system that WAPA owes.…

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority is running out of money as federal aid declines and many riders have not returned to the mass transit system in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. By the end of fiscal 2024, the MTA estimates federal pandemic relief funds will be exhausted and projects budget gaps of up…

UBS voluntarily resigned as a co-manager from a Texas city bond issue that priced this week in the wake of the company’s placement on the state comptroller’s list of fossil fuel industry boycotters. Kerrville, Texas, Finance Director Julie Behrens confirmed on Friday that UBS had “voluntarily withdrawn” from the city’s $44.4 million general obligation bond…

Municipals were steady Friday, while U.S. Treasuries were mixed and equities sold off in the aftermath of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s promise the Fed will keep raising interest rates to combat inflation. In light of the market’s concern over Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole, BofA strategists Yingchen Li and Ian Rogow “continue to view the Fed’s hawkishness as a better…

New York-based Ramirez & Co. has renewed its efforts to grow in California since hiring a key public finance banker last year. The half-century-old firm is no stranger to California, with an almost three-decade history in the Golden State. But its California footprint has grown since hiring Raul Amezcua in 2021 to work in its…

Municipals were mixed Thursday as the market took a breather ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech, while U.S. Treasuries improved five years and out and equities ended in the black. Outflows from municipal bond mutual funds intensified as investors pulled $1.180 billion out of funds in the latest week, versus the $229.263…

UBS Group is the only bank that underwrites municipal bonds on the list the Texas comptroller released Wednesday of 10 financial companies determined to be boycotting the fossil fuel industry under a 2021 law aimed at protecting the state’s oil and natural gas businesses. Placement on the list could jeopardize UBS’ participation as a co-manager…

Long-end munis were much weaker Wednesday while a large new-issue from the New York City Transitional Finance Authority took focus in the primary. U.S. Treasuries were saw losses along the curve and equities made gains ahead of the Jackson Hole event that starts Thursday. Triple-A municipal yields rose two to 10 basis points with the…

Municipals were a touch weaker Tuesday, but the focus was on a large new-issue day with airport revenue bonds from Minneapolis-St. Paul and transportation revenue bonds from Delaware leading the calendar. Treasuries saw smaller losses out longer with the 10-year closing above 3% again while equities ended in the red as economic data disappointed. Triple-A…

Directors at two of the Federal Reserve’s 12 regional branches favored a 100-basis-point increase in the discount rate in July, minutes of discount-rate meetings show. The boards of the St. Louis and Minneapolis banks voted for a bigger move on July 14, the Fed said in a statement released Tuesday. A day earlier, a report…

The tone for munis was mixed Monday as they mostly ignored broader weakness in U.S. Treasuries while equities sold off as the markets continue to weigh what’s to come from Federal Reserve officials later this week in Jackson Hole. Triple-A yields rose one to three basis points, depending on the curve, while U.S. Treasuries saw…

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board has raised concerns about a recently passed tax on foreign firms, which it said could cost the government as much as $143 million in its first year. The board sent a letter to Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Thursday threatening to block the new tax, unless he takes steps to insure it’s…

Even as tax revenue continues to rise in New York, storm clouds are gathering on the fiscal horizon, providing an opening for lobbyists who want to widen online gambling in the state. Local sales tax collections in New York State rose 11.9% in July compared to the same period in 2021, according to state comptroller…

Cities and states facing elevated construction costs face an unappetizing menu of choices ranging from more borrowing to delaying projects, each of which carry their own set of credit risks. Elevated construction costs also mean fewer bids for public projects, as contractors are likely to opt first for the private sector, particularly when the market…

Long-term education debt reached its highest levels on record in 2020, the most recent data sample available, reaching $505 billion. That’s highlighted in Reason Foundation’s recent K-12 Education Spending Spotlight, which leans on U.S. Census Bureau data to show long-term debt has reached its highest level since the organization began releasing the report in 2002.…

Municipals closed out the week with more weakness with yields rising up to 10 basis points on the short end of the yield curve, following U.S. Treasuries to higher yields while equities ended down. The one-year triple-A benchmark saw smaller cuts with yields rising up to four basis points, depending on the scale, while two-,…

S&P Global Ratings Friday revised its outlook to positive from stable on New Jersey general obligation bonds. The rating agency highlighted the state government’s recent payments to its underfunded state pension system. “The outlook revision follows the second consecutive year the state has budgeted the full annual actuarially determined contribution to its retirement systems,” S&P…

A deluge of ratepayer-backed utility debt in the wake of 2021’s Winter Storm Uri continues with a Kansas regulator approving the state’s first securitization deal. The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) on Thursday unanimously passed an irrevocable financing order allowing Kansas Gas Service to issue securitized bonds to recover $328 million in costs incurred during the…