Category: Bonds

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks at the Democratic National Convention earlier this year. Johnson on Wednesday unveiled his fiscal year 2025 budget proposal.Bloomberg News Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on Wednesday proposed a $17.3 billion fiscal 2025 budget that calls for a $300 million property tax increase, a move that reverses a campaign promise but avoids…

Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors. The 10 largest issuers of electric power issuance in the first half of 2024 accounted for $8.224 billion. The 10 top was led by the Southern California Public Power Authority with $1.423 billion in five deals, followed by the Los Angeles Department…

Secondary trading showed a weaker tone Tuesday but the focus shifted to the primary as a large slate of new issues along the credit spectrum were priced, while U.S. Treasuries improved and equities closed the session mixed. The primary was led by two large California issues, including the state’s competitive sale of tax-exempt and taxable…

Detroit and the Michigan Finance Authority last week completed a refinancing deal for bonds issued as part of the city’s bankruptcy exit.Bloomberg News The Michigan Finance Authority this month priced for the city of Detroit a $79.51 million deal to refund debt issued to pay creditors in connection with its bankruptcy settlement. Wells Fargo priced…

Municipals were little changed Monday as the market took a breather following volatility last week and ahead of what is expected to be the last sizable new-issue slate until well after the election. U.S. Treasuries were weaker and equities saw gains. The two-year ratio Monday was at 64%, the three-year at 63%, the five-year at…

A California Bay Area school district that recently made waves for failing to pass a budget on time sold $352 million of general obligation bonds last week. The district entered the market with a downgrade to its underlying rating, but the deal was bolstered with a bond insurance wrap that covered most maturities. West Contra…

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will be issuing a request for information on its rate card fee setting process, one of the many topics that were discussed during the MSRB’s first quarterly board meeting of FY 2025 held Oct. 23-24. The rate card request for information will be out in the next couple of weeks,…

Tom Vales, a muni bond electronic trading expert, has joined Build America Mutual’s board as an independent director. The bond insurer has seven board members, including three independent directors. Vales will succeed John White, who is retiring, according to a press release. “Tom’s career has been about making fixed-income markets more transparent and efficient,” said Seán…

Record bond volume, a focus on climate, more floating-rate debt and broader integration of municipals into fixed-income markets is on the horizon for the public finance industry. Those are among the factors that will lead to market growth in 2025 and beyond, panelists at this week’s Bond Buyer California Public Finance conference said. The increase…

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack said that while progress on lowering inflation had resumed in recent months, officials aren’t yet ready to declare their mission accomplished.  “We have made good progress, but inflation is still running above the FOMC’s 2% objective,” Hammack said Thursday, referring to the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee.…

Municipals improved Friday after a volatile week for the asset class, ignoring losses in U.S. Treasuries, while equities closed the week mixed. Investors will see higher yields and ratios along with a nearly $11 billion new-issue slate for the final week of the month and the last ahead of the election. Triple-A yields fell three…

Municipals saw gains Thursday, ending four consecutive trading sessions of rising yields. U.S. Treasuries improved and equities ended mixed. Municipal yields fell up to seven basis points, depending on the scale, while UST yields fell one to five basis points. Muni-UST ratios fell slightly. The two-year ratio Thursday was at 66%, the three-year at 65%,…

Shreveport, Louisiana, was downgraded by Moody’s Ratings.Adobe Stock Shreveport, Louisiana, was downgraded to Baa2 from Baa1 Wednesday by Moody’s Ratings. The agency maintains a negative outlook on the rating. The downgrade of Shreveport’s issuer, general obligation and senior revenue ratings will affect $2.1 billion in debt when the city completes the anticipated $88 million Series…

Municipals saw a sharp correction Wednesday, with yields rising double-digits as the asset class played catch up to U.S. Treasuries after recent outperformance led to too-rich ratios. Deals in the primary repriced to higher yields as a result. Muni yields rose five to 18 basis points, depending on the scale, pushing the 10-year above 3%…

Houston Controller Chris Hollins’ investor conference took place Tuesday without the  participation of key city officials after Mayor John Whitmore raised “pay-to-play” concerns about corporate sponsorships for the event and requested a city probe. Hollins countered on Tuesday, calling on the Houston inspector general’s office to also investigate corporate sponsorships for the mayor’s Sept. 17…

As the election looms, tax specialists and politicos are gaming out what might happen to key provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, including the deduction cap on state and local taxes.   “There’s an interesting set of bedfellows and partnerships that could emerge on SALT,” said Arshi Siddiqui, a partner at Akin, and a…

Municipals extended their selloff with the largest losses on the short end amid another busy day in the primary market, led by an upsized JFK Airport Terminal 6 Redevelopment Project deal. U.S. Treasuries were little changed and equities ended mixed. Triple-A yields rose three to 12 basis points, playing some catch up after recent outperformance.…

Municipals were weaker Monday following U.S. Treasury market pressures while equities ended down. Triple-A yields rose up to seven basis points while govies were higher by eight to 12 basis points. Short ratios fell as a result of the day’s moves. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Monday day was at 61%, the three-year at 61%, the…

On Monday, the Department of Transportation announced the winners of $4.2 billion in grants flowing from the Biden Administration’s infrastructure legislative crown jewel.  “Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Biden-Harris administration is carrying out ambitious, complex transportation projects that will shape our country’s infrastructure for generations to come,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.  “With…

As funding from the American Rescue Plan Act peters out, cites are balancing reserves and issuing new debt while searching for funding streams.  “Our biggest challenge is not the replacement of the ARPA funds, it’s rather how are we going to pay for the future debt, for the amount of infrastructure debt we have facing…