Bonds

Harrisburg University of Science and Technology violated its bond covenant at the beginning of the month when it missed a monthly $1.2 million interest payment to the bond trustee. Jessica Warren, Harrisburg University’s executive director of marketing and communications, said the university only needs to make interest payments twice a year on its outstanding bond

Municipals took a breather Friday ahead of the long weekend and a much smaller calendar after seeing yields rise and underperform U.S. Treasuries, pushing ratios to levels last seen in November 2023. In addition to “more attractive raw yields, municipal underperformance has allowed relative values to improve as well,” noted Kim Olsan, senior vice president

As states and the federal government grapple with ways to replace or complement the diminishing gas tax, the idea of a per-mile user fee has gained public support over the last decade. That’s according to the latest annual survey from the Mineta Transportation Institute, based at San Jose State University, which for the last 15

The U.S. Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority’s financial situation is the worst in more than 30 years, one board director said Thursday. Board Director Hubert Turnbull made the remark at the board’s monthly meeting as a prelude to asking CEO Andrew Smith to explain the authority’s financial situation. WAPA had to turn to the

The South has been the driving force for United States population growth in recent years – in 2023 for example, the region accounted for 87% of the nation’s population growth, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That population growth has helped spur economic growth in that region. But the changing climate may turn that equation

Munis were weaker Wednesday as the primary market saw a slew of new deals price, adding pressure to secondary market trading. U.S. Treasury yields rose throughout most of the curve and equities ended down. Triple-A yields rose as much as 11 basis points while USTs were weaker by five basis points. As munis have seen

Morgan Stanley continues to beef up its muni team with two more key hires. Dan Tomson, Citi’s former co-head of Municipal Banking and Public Finance, and David Stephan, a former J.P. Morgan executive director, have joined the firm. These hires come a few months after Morgan Stanley hired four former Citi public finance employees, three

Municipals weakened further Tuesday in secondary trading as a large new-issue slate took focus in the primary market. U.S. Treasury yields fell and equities were in the black. Muni yields were cut up to seven basis points, depending on the scale, while UST yields fell two to three basis points, pushing muni to UST ratios

U.S. public-private partnership activity weakened last year but the longer-term trend of a rising number of P3s held strong while the future boasts a healthy project pipeline and infrastructure funds looking to invest. The southeast region remained the frontrunner in the space, with big-ticket projects queued up in Georgia, Louisiana and Tennessee. Availability-payment P3s remained

Greensboro, North Carolina, is expected to price $175 million of bonds next week, $25 million of which are taxable bonds, with the proceeds being used to redeem outstanding bond anticipation notes. The North Carolina Local Government Commission approved the Greensboro bonds earlier this month as well as $212 million of bonds from Raleigh, with an

As the muni market relies on technology, there’s a school of thought that new systems and processes are favored over personal relationships, sacrificing personal touch for efficiency and automation. However, some market participants argue the contrary, believing technology only further enhances the interpersonal relationships of this highly relationship-based industry. “The industry is built on relationships,

States are casting around for solutions to a drop in gas tax revenues which includes hiked registration fees and the expansion of toll roads, which remains politically sensitive.  “Various projections from state DOTs, think tanks, and economists show that gas tax revenue, which is the largest source of revenue for state transportation trust funds, is

The Federal Reserve’s delay of interest-rate cuts in a bid to temper inflation runs the risk of falling behind the curve, according to Mohamed El-Erian. “The Fed pivoted on the basis of data. It was the opposite of the pivot that they did in December — now they have to do a U-turn,” El-Erian, the

A Senate Finance Committee hearing led by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, contemplated ways to smooth funding for rural hospitals as the number in the red has spiked in recent years. Rural hospitals and clinics across the U.S., including in Oregon, have been particularly hard hit by the challenges facing healthcare over the past several years.

Municipals were steady to slightly weaker in spots ahead of a $12 billion-plus calendar, while U.S. Treasury yields rose and equities were mixed near the close There are nearly 30 new-issues over $100 million on tap across the credit spectrum, led by the week’s largest negotiated deal from Harris County, Texas, with $950 million of

Virginia Beach tapped the municipal bond market to help fund a surf park development backed by multi-Grammy award winning artist Pharrell Williams.  The Virginia Beach Development Authority priced about $189 million of debt on Thursday with some of the bond proceeds financing the construction of a 3,500-person entertainment venue, parking facilities and land acquisitions, as

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is seeking to halt the trend of property insurers exiting the state, citing losses, by expediting how quickly they can increase rates. Newsom announced plans to draft a trailer bill to speed up work done by the state’s Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara during Friday’s briefing on May revisions to his proposed

Municipal bonds saw a touch of weakness in spots as the last large issues of the week priced while municipal bond mutual fund flows show retail engaged and high-yield continuing to outperform the broader investment-grade market. U.S. Treasuries faced some pressure on a slew of economic data and Fed speak that gave participants pause on

After nearly a year of negotiations and four short-term extensions, and a week after the Senate passed it, the House Wednesday approved a bipartisan $105 billion Federal Aviation Administration bill, sending it to President Joe Biden’s desk two days before the agency’s spending runs out. The 387-26 vote passed a bill that features a solid bump

Fitch Ratings last week upgraded Milwaukee’s issuer default rating and general obligation rating to A-plus from BBB-plus. The outlook is stable.  Milwaukee benefited from Fitch’s new rating criteria, rolled out last month, which incorporate most of the credit factors that Fitch has considered historically but include additional analytical factors and now assign specific weightings to