Bonds

Municipals were little changed to close out a busy week in both the primary and secondary, while U.S. Treasury yields fell out long and equities rallied. “Although this round of muni market bullish reversal was pulled off one week later than Treasuries’, the rally progressed better,” said BofA strategists. The 10-year UST reached its peak

Puerto Rico’s upcoming gubernatorial and legislative elections may lead to a new governor but aren’t likely to change local policy significantly, observers say. At this stage, the main drama seems to be in the New Progressive Party governor’s primary, which sees Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón running against Gov. Pedro Pierluisi. As Resident

Municipals were mixed Thursday, largely sitting out another swing to higher yields in U.S. Treasuries after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank would not hesitate to hike interest rates further if needed. Equities sold off. Triple-A yields barely budged while USTs saw yields rise by 10 to 14 basis points following a

Voters in Maine rejected a much-debated proposal to replace the state’s two largest power providers with a public utility company in Tuesday’s election. Question 3 on the ballot, which asked voters to approve the state takeover of for-profit power providers Versant and Central Maine Power Company and the creation of a non-profit, publicly owned utility

In a troubled world, booming demand for American military weaponry has left the country in need of billions of dollars more in armaments than it can currently produce.  West Virginia is trying to meet that need. Though its footprint in the national defense sector is small, representing just .1% of the $558.7 billion in defense contracts

The state of Washington filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in an ongoing battle to defend the capital gains excise tax lawmakers approved in 2021. In Quinn v. Washington, the plaintiff, Chris Quinn, has asked the high court to review its case and overturn the Washington State Supreme Court’s 7-2 March ruling that upheld

Several large new-issues priced into a stronger market with munis seeing gains across the yield curve amid constructive secondary activity as U.S. Treasuries pared back some of Mondays losses and equities also improved. Triple-A yields fell three to five basis points while USTs made gains up to eight basis points out long. The two-year muni-to-Treasury

In an Oct. 27 comment letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the National Federation of Municipal Analysts (NFMA) outlined its thoughts for implementing the Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA). The letter, coming from a group that had previously expressed skepticism about the FDTA’s imposition of data standards for municipal reporting, was a breath

Voters in Rhode Island’ will face several local ballot questions Tuesday, mostly for for local school bonds. Rhode Island is in the midst of a state-backed overhaul of its educational facilities, many of which are deemed to be outdated and in need of replacement or renovation, and local officials hoping to tap a state reimbursement

Municipal analysts say K-12 school districts are struggling with lower enrollment, teacher shortages and increased operating costs. With federal COVID aid drying up and other revenues falling, school district budgets are likely to suffer in the coming months and years, said Howard Cure, Evercore Director of Municipal Bond Research. In addition, with growing charter school

While municipal bond issuance has dropped precipitously the past two years amid volatile markets, environmental, social and governance debt has steadily grown despite issuer hesitation to designate it as such and an ever-more acrimonious political environment emerges over it. ESG issuance for the first three quarters of 2023 was at $27.970 billion, potentially on pace

States would suffer deep cuts in water infrastructure funding they receive through state revolving funds, which make up a significant corner of the municipal bond market, under a bill passed Friday by the U.S. House of Representatives. The fiscal 2024 Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations measure, House Bill 4821, totals $37.4

The notion of channeling federal dollars devoted to infrastructure improvement into affordable housing including office conversions located near mass transit is picking up steam. Quantifying the possibilities and costs offered by the concept remains elusive but recent research is revealing new possibilities.  “We end up concluding something on the order of 10% of the existing

Two major offshore wind projects in New Jersey got the ax as their developer, Danish energy company Ørsted, reassesses its U.S. portfolio citing sustained inflation and rising construction costs. Mads Nipper, Group President and CEO of Ørsted, on Tuesday said the company was “extremely disappointed” to cancel Ocean Wind 1 and 2, a pair of offshore wind

Municipals rallied Friday across the curve sending triple-A yields lower by as much as 13 basis points as they continued to play catch up to the moves in U.S. Treasuries, which also saw more gains after a weaker jobs report further signaled Fed rate hikes may be done. Equities closed the week in the black.

Washington is banking on its high credit ratings and strong demand on previous sales as it heads to market Tuesday with a $483 million competitive refunding.  The bonds will be auctioned in two series: $296.550 million various purpose general obligation refunding bonds, Series R-2024A and $186.225 million motor vehicle fuel tax and vehicle-related fees GO

A Pennsylvania company that operates three nursing homes is in default, and it’s a familiar story: staff shortages and a large slump in occupancy in the aftermath of the pandemic. Senior Choice Inc. failed to make interest and principal payments due Oct. 31 on its $15.9 million bond issued in 2006 by the Cambria County

Inflation-adjusted revenues of the 50 states were down 13.7% January through August compared to the same period a year earlier, the Urban Institute reported, but despite this states remain fiscally healthy, thanks to prudent use of recent surpluses, one analyst said. In nominal terms, revenues were down 9.7% in the period. August state tax revenues

Municipals were firmer Wednesday but underperformed a U.S. Treasury rally after the Fed held rates steady. Equities rallied as well. The municipal market was up “a touch” after the Fed announced it would keep rates unchanged at their November meeting, according to Michael Pietronico, chief executive officer at Miller Tabak Asset Management. Commenting on the

A bankrupt Iowa hospital could ultimately end up in the hands of the University of Iowa, which submitted the winning bid in a reopened auction last week.  A hearing on Mercy Hospital’s sale to the university is scheduled for Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Cedar Rapids. Mercy Hospital in Iowa City filed a Chapter