Bonds

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board reached a verbal agreement with bond insurers on a debt repayment plan on Wednesday, two days after they reached an agreement with unsecured creditors representing the largest debt holders in the negotiations. Lawyers at Proskauer Rose LLP representing the Oversight Board, and federal Judge Laura Taylor Swain, agreed to delay

Chicago Public Schools laid out a proposed $9.3 billion fiscal 2022 budget that directs $707 million towards capital and spends down about $1 billion of the district’s $2.6 billion of federal relief to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed budget for the fiscal year that began July 1 raises spending by about $900 million

Municipals were little changed Tuesday, ignoring another rise in U.S. Treasuries and a weaker stock market, with the focus on the primary which saw deals bumped in repricings. Another day of UST weakness after less-than-stellar auctions and municipals stayed in their own lane. Some participants said without the UST rise in yields, municipal benchmarks likely

Consumer price spikes, which in June surged the most since 2008, will likely be a temporary feature of an economy that’s quickly recovering from the pandemic, said Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly. Daly, who said she is “bullish” about the economy going into the fall, said it’s now appropriate for the

Municipals were little changed with a slightly weaker tone outside of 10 years Monday ahead of a larger and diverse primary as the second week of July reinvestment kicks into gear. U.S. Treasuries fluctuated but held mostly steady after midday auctions. The 30-year UST sat just at 2% near the close while triple-A municipal benchmark

White Plains, New York, and the bond insurer for debt the Westchester County Industrial Development Agency issued to build a downtown parking garage are at odds over who is on the hook for a looming $1.7 million bond payment for the facility. ACA Financial Guaranty of nearby Rye insured the bonds. The next payment is

Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi on Thursday proposed removing pension cuts from the island’s debt restructuring negotiations, asking legislators instead to deal with the issue in regular budget negotiations. Observers say the move is political and unlikely to help parties come to consensus over the pension issues, and further complicates getting the Plan of Adjustment

Wayne County, Michigan, received an upgrade from Moody’s Investors Service this week that pushed the once speculative-grade credit into the single-A category six years after a financial crisis. Moody’s raised the county’s issuer rating and the general obligation and lease rental bonds issued by the Detroit Wayne County Stadium Authority to A3 from Baa1 and

Hawaii lawmakers made changes to bills that would have used COVID-19 federal relief funds to make debt payments and replenish reserves before ending a special session Thursday, which was called to act on the governor’s vetoes. Gov. David Ige announced plans June 21 to veto 28 bills and ultimately vetoed 26 of them by Tuesday’s

The Regional Transportation Authority of Illinois and the Chicago Transit Authority won upgrades from Moody’s Investors Service as sales taxes recover and worries about exposure to fallout from the state fade with Illinois on stronger fiscal ground. Both had carried a negative outlook assigned in May 2020 as the pandemic took a toll on sales

U.S. Treasuries pared back gains with yields rising by four to six basis points Friday and stocks rallied to record highs as investors’ concerns over a lull in the economic recovery quieted. Municipal bonds did as they often do on a summer Friday — stayed on the sidelines and awaited the coming week’s larger new-issue

Kentucky’s general fund receipts came in $1 billion above projections for fiscal year 2021, the Office of the State Budget Director reported on Friday. General fund receipts rose 10.9% to $12.8 billion for fiscal 2021 from the same period in the previous year, $1 billion above the prior budgeted estimate and the highest annual growth

Illinois reaped a second rating reward for its improving fiscal condition with its first S&P Global Ratings upgrade in 24 years. The upgrade to BBB from BBB-minus followed a similar move by Moody’s Investors Service last week raising the rating to the same level at Baa2 with a stable outlook. In June, Fitch Ratings moved

San Jose, California, will head to market Wednesday with a $200 million competitive general obligation bond deal riding an upgrade to AAA from Fitch Ratings. The city received the one-notch upgrade to its GOs, but not its issuer default rating from Fitch, for both the upcoming deal and $502 million in outstanding GO debt, based

As the White House weighs the potential renomination of Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve, officials are discussing the use of openings on the board to reshape the central bank to closer align with administration priorities such as inequality and tighter banking regulations, according to people familiar with the matter. President Joe Biden

The top municipal underwriters accounted for $219.57 billion in 6,084 transactions in the first half of 2021 compared to $191.87 billion in 5,181 deals in the first half of 2020. BofA Securities led with $32.99 billion of deals, while Goldman Sachs jumped into the top five and Morgan Stanley moved up one spot from where

Municipals were better on light but strong trading in the secondary, as dealers pushed benchmarks lower with large blocks of high-grades exchanging hands but sales to customers also showed strong interest. U.S. Treasuries helped direct municipals to lower yields as the UST 10-year fell to 1.36% — the lowest since Feb. 24 — and the

After two decades of credit deterioration — with a brief reprieve about a decade ago that lifted the state’s ratings due to a recalibration of municipal credits — the pendulum shifted last week with a one-notch upgrade from Moody’s Investors Service. The upgrade gives the state more breathing room between investment grade and junk. It

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board on Wednesday approved a $10.1 billion budget crafted by the Puerto Rico local government for the first time in the board’s history. “The budget developed jointly by the governor, the legislature, and the Oversight Board is a significant achievement and an important step toward achieving fiscal responsibility and economic stability,”

Michigan drew a second dose of positive rating news in June as S&P Global Rating’s lifted its rating outlook to stable from negative as COVID-19 pandemic fiscal worries fade amid a brighter economic picture. S&P’s action Wednesday came as lawmakers approved the school aid portion of the state’s fiscal 2022 budget, and it followed Fitch