A firm tone and hearty appetite from investors was evident Wednesday as the municipal market prepared for a shortened week due to the Thanksgiving holiday. U.S. Treasuries were mixed and equities were better. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Wednesday was at 63%, the three-year at 64%, the five-year at 65%, the 10-year at 67% and the
Bonds
A bankruptcy court recently ruled for the most part in favor of Chester, Pennsylvania, bondholders in an adversary proceeding filed by the city challenging liens on revenues for bonds issued in 2017 as part of a financial recovery plan for the city. Chester, which filed for bankruptcy in November 2022, has faced decades of financial
An Oklahoma law prohibiting state and local government contracts with companies that “boycott” the fossil fuel industry is the target of a lawsuit, claiming the measure prevents public employee pension funds from performing their constitutional duty to operate for the exclusive benefit of their beneficiaries. The case filed in Oklahoma County District Court this week
Former Sterlington, Louisiana, Mayor Vern Breland has, without admitting or denying the findings, agreed to pay a $35,000 civil penalty in addition to a permanent bar from future municipal securities offerings following his role in providing false projections to the Louisiana State Bond Commission in connection with two offerings worth $5.8 million, the Securities and
A delegation from Miami-Dade County, Florida, will visit Japan from Nov. 25 to Dec. 6 in a bid to deepen trade and commerce ties and establish business connections between the two regions. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Oliver Gilbert III, Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners, will lead a delegation from the
Citi’s municipal division appears to have been spared from initial reorganization efforts at the firm, according to market sources. Citigroup informed its employees Monday of an upcoming round of job cuts and managerial changes — the next large step in CEO Jane Fraser’s push to create a simpler, flatter company. Citi did not say how many positions
Wisconsin has released a request for qualifications from firms willing to serve as bond underwriters in either a senior manager or co-manager capacity. The state Capital Finance Office will set up pools of qualified investment banking firms, which it will use to designate underwriting syndicates effective through Dec. 31, 2026. Clarifications are due by noon
Municipals were firmer Tuesday as U.S. Treasury yields fell slightly, following the release of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes that said officials will remain cautious about future interest rate hikes. Equities ended down. Muni triple-A yield curves were bumped two to six basis points Tuesday, depending on the curve, as municipals continued to
The current municipal rally has led to an increase in tax loss harvesting as more investors leverage the strength and pre-holiday liquidity to consider repositioning their portfolios. This year has seen an increase in and an earlier start to tax loss harvesting after rapidly rising, and then subsequently falling, interest rates and stronger equity market
The existing farm bill, a multiyear, omnibus keystone-sized chunk of legislation was extended via the latest continuing resolution, but aggie bond watchers are hoping a fresh rewrite of the measure will include passing the Modernizing Agricultural and Manufacturing Bonds Act. MAMBA would increase the limitation on small issue bond proceeds for first-time farmers and triple
The deadline for changes to bond purchase agreements in Texas as part of a crackdown on compliance with two state laws prohibiting governmental contracts with banks and others that “boycott” or “discriminate” against the fossil fuel or firearm industries has been extended to mid-December. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office announced last week that changes
Illinois’ rainy-day fund crossed the $2 billion threshold for the first time, following an $11.5 million deposit, the state comptroller’s office announced Monday. The fund has grown in size in recent years and now, at $2.005 billion, has enough money to run the sixth largest state for about 15 days compared to 2017 when it
Fitch Ratings revised the outlook on the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, Florida, to positive from stable. Fitch also affirmed the AA-minus rating on the GOAA’s $1.8 billion of outstanding senior lien airport facilities revenue bonds and the A-plus rating on $867 million of subordinate lien airport facilities revenue bonds. Fitch said its ratings reflect Orlando International Airport’s
The state of Missouri and St. Louis County have approved nearly $200 million in incentives to help Boeing Co. expand its current facilities in the St. Louis area as the aerospace company vies to win a large Pentagon contract to build the next generation of fighter planes for the military. The St. Louis County Council
Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors. Transcription below: Caitlin Devitt (00:04):Hi and welcome to another Bond Buyer podcast. I’m Caitlin Devitt, Infrastructure Reporter for The Bond Buyer. Joining me today, my guest is Karol Denniston, an attorney with Squire Patton Boggs and the firm’s global projects partner, where
Puerto Rico revenues surpassed projections and employment figures suggested more people were working. Net general fund revenues beat Oversight Board’s predictions by 20.4% in the first quarter (July through September), the Puerto Rico Treasury Department announced Monday. “These results are consistent with what other economic indicators reflect, such as retail sales, automobile sales (40.5% year-on-year
SK Battery America, a subsidiary of South Korean firm SK On, one of the world’s largest battery makers, is scaling back production on several fronts in response to a changing market for the vehicles. As an EV market turbocharged by federal incentives and high-set expectations cools off and major producers weigh cost-saving measures, SK said
Municipals were bumped up to a basis point or two Monday, while U.S. Treasuries were firmer out long and equities rallied near the close. For the third consecutive week, muni yields continued to fall. The 10-year note fell by 21.6 basis points last week to end the week at 3.05%, said Jason Wong, vice president
Tradeweb has launched a new AAA Municipal Yield Curve based on combining Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board data and pre- and post-trade data obtained from institutional market participants trading on the Tradeweb platform. Tradeweb’s “more timely, granular view” of institutional activity in the municipal bond market allows it to identify trends developing in real-time, often before
Last week the Internal Revenue Service notified the Clark County School District that its $338.4 million bond issue in 2015 will remain tax exempt, closing an audit first disclosed in April. According to a notice listed in EMMA, the district “received a letter informing the issuer that the IRS ‘completed the examination for the issue and dates
Dallas should use actuarially determined contributions for its troubled police and fire retirement system in order to reach full funding by 2055, according to preliminary recommendations from an independent actuary firm. The suggested move to allocate more city revenue to the system comes as the unfunded liability is rising and the use of pension obligation