admin

Municipals were steady to weaker in spots Thursday, as U.S. Treasury yields rose five years and out and equities rallied. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Thursday was at 64%, the three-year at 66%, the five-year at 66%, the 10-year at 70% and the 30-year at 86%, according to Refinitiv Municipal Market Data’s 3 p.m. EST read.

Bond ratings for a Texas city that defaulted on debt as it struggled with water scarcity were downgraded by S&P Global Ratings for a second time since August amid amplified signs of financial distress. Clyde, a city of less than 4,000 in central Texas, also disclosed in a recently posted financial report the use of

Puerto Rico will focus on growing high-potential economic sectors, enhancing skills and participation, and taking steps to increase productivity, according to an Oversight Board long-term economic plan, Board Revitalization Coordinator José Ramon Pérez-Riera presented at a meeting Wednesday. The board expects to take steps to attract businesses and expand them in priority sectors, Pérez-Riera said.

Kentucky’s issuer rating was upgraded to Aa2 from Aa3 and the outlook changed to stable from positive by Moody’s Ratings. The move follows upgrades by Fitch Ratings in May 2023 and by S&P Global Ratings in June 2023. The agency upgraded to Aa3 from A1 $4.4 billion of general fund appropriation backed debt and to

Moody’s Ratings lifted Oklahoma’s issuer rating a notch to Aa1 with a stable outlook on Wednesday, citing the state’s strong fund balances, low leverage, and conservative budget management.  The upgrade is the first for Oklahoma since Moody’s, Fitch Ratings, and S&P Global Ratings  revised their outlooks for the state to positive from stable beginning last

It’s boom time in the municipal bond business and many expect the deal momentum to continue past the November election. The year’s issuance record — and the expectation that it will continue — marked a recurring theme among panelists at The Bond Buyer’s infrastructure conference in Philadelphia this week. “It’s been an extraordinary year by

The Internal Revenue Service has been hiring different kinds of workers in its Office of Tax-Exempt Bonds, and bringing on more of them, resulting in more newly started cases, more people on calls to issuers and longer audit times, officials from the TEB office said Wednesday at the National Association of Bond Lawyers annual conference

As extreme weather becomes more common and the federal deficit hits new records, the onus will be on state and local governments to finance the future of resilient infrastructure. The good news is they have plenty of capacity to take on the debt and retail investors are clamoring for the paper. That’s the view of

Florida’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research is warning of new fiscal challenges for the state government in coming years. Without changes to revenue and expenditure policies, the office, a part of Florida’s government, projects a general revenue fund deficit of $9.8 billion by June 30, 2028, the official Long-Range Financial Outlook released Sept. 6

The University of the Arts, a private college in Philadelphia that abruptly closed its doors in June, filed for bankruptcy Friday, two weeks after it faced a demand by its bondholders for immediate repayment of more than $50 million in debt.  The school listed assets and liabilities of $50 million to $100 million, in a

The Empire State Development Corp. is set to sell $335.7 million of state sales tax revenue bonds on Thursday. The competitive deal is the only sizable offering from a New York state issuer on this week’s calendar, a contrast to the billion-dollar deals the state’s issuers have sold in recent months.  It was a week

Municipals were steady Wednesday ignoring the volatility in U.S. Treasuries and equities, which whipsawed following the Federal Reserve’s 50-basis point rate cut, before both closing the session weaker. Municipal triple-A yields were little changed while USTs closed the session weaker by to eight basis points out long. For municipals, Wednesday “marks a crucial step forward,

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker’s $6.3 billion budget, the first of her tenure signed into law in the summer, represents her administration’s commitment to making Philadelphia “the safest, cleanest, greenest big city in the nation, with access to economic opportunity for all.” Parker, who became Philadelphia’s 100th mayor and the first woman to hold the position

On Tuesday, former President Trump announced support for lifting the cap on the State and Local Tax deduction, a move which has wide support from municipal bond issuers.  Trump made the announcement via his Truth Social network as part of a personal post saying, “I will turn it around, get SALT back, lower your taxes,

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Municipal Securities director Dave Sanchez has a warning for advisors working on municipal market-adjacent deals like public-private partnerships or workforce housing: we’re watching you. Issuers, though not responsible for their municipal advisors, should be proactive in ensuring the firms are playing by the rules, said Sanchez, speaking Tuesday

A Major League Soccer stadium in Frisco, Texas, will undergo bond-financed renovations under an agreement approved Tuesday by the city council.  The Frisco Community Development Corp. will issue up to $182 million of sales tax revenue bonds for the Toyota Stadium project, which must commence by Dec. 31, 2025, and be completed by the end