Bonds

The University of Arizona heads to the municipal bond market this week with its first bond issue since financial troubles led to negative rating outlooks from Moody’s Ratings and S&P Global Ratings. The $115.645 million of Stimulus Plan for Economic and Educational Development, or SPEED, revenue bonds issued through the Arizona Board of Regents will

Moody’s upgraded Pennsylvania’s issuer default rating to Aa2 from Aa3 Monday, ahead of the commonwealth’s plans to sell at least $1.4 billion of general obligation bonds.  The Keystone State is now at its highest rating since 2013, before the state’s finances were mired by partisan conflict between and among the two houses of the legislature

Investors will have a chance to buy New York City’s third-ever social-labeled general obligation bonds this week. Comptroller Brad Lander said he has high hopes for the taxable $1.5 billion deal despite the awkwardness of Mayor Eric Adams’ recent federal criminal indictment on bribery charges.  “[The credit rating agencies] have reported they believe the city’s

Texas Capital is expanding its public finance team with the addition of five industry professionals, the Dallas-based financial services firm announced Friday. The public finance business was launched in May with the hiring of Steve Genyk, a former public finance head at UBS, as a managing director. The move came as the ranks of underwriters

Municipals saw further weakness Monday following more losses in U.S. Treasuries while equities ended down as investors digest rising oil prices amid geopolitical tensions and uncertain macroeconomic data ahead. Muni yields were cut up two to five basis points, depending on the curve, while UST yields rose five to seven basis points, pushing the 10-year

Cleveland will return to market Wednesday with the first of two bond deals slated for this month. That deal, an approximately $64.395 million general obligation offering, will fund improvements to public facilities, parks and recreational buildings and bridges and roadways. The second deal, $90 million of water revenue bonds to finance capital projects and purchase

Tom Falcone, former CEO of the Long Island Power Authority, was unanimously elected president of the Large Public Power Council, effective Jan. 1, 2025. Falcone said the position is a natural continuation of his work with public power utilities throughout his career. “As an investment banker financing projects, as somebody who was at a utility

The Texas state comptroller and attorney general asked a federal court on Friday to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a 2021 law that bans governmental contracts with banks and other financial firms determined to be “boycotting” the fossil fuel industry. The filing asserts plaintiff American Sustainable Business Council lacks standing to bring the

The Maryland Stadium Authority is coming to market with a $413.4 million issuance of tax- exempt revenue bonds that will finance construction and renovations to Maryland schools.   “We expect good demand from in-state retail and separately-managed account buyers, but we also expect interest from national investors,” said Patrick Luby, senior municipal bonds strategist at CreditSights.  

As the southeast region reels from Hurricane Helene and as another potential major storm bears down on Florida this week, a group of finance agencies is urging Congress to create disaster recovery bonds that would give cities, towns and states immediate access to low-cost financing after a natural or manmade disaster. The Council of Development

Moody’s Ratings upgraded $3.02 billion in Miami-Dade County transit bonds to Aa2 from A1 and convention development tax bonds to Aa3 from A2 on Thursday. The broad nature of the revenue pledge and strong 2.4 times maximum annual debt service coverage supported the upgrade, the agency said. The revenues have had limited volatility and a

U.S. Treasuries sold off Friday after payrolls came in much hotter than expected, leading economists and traders to pare back rate cut expectations. The municipal market could not ignore the moves and triple-A yields rose, but outperformed taxables to a large extent, pushing ratios lower. Equities rallied on the news, pushing the Dow to close

Dennis J. Enright, founding principal of NW Financial Group and NW Capital Markets, has died, the New Jersey-based firm announced Thursday. He was 76. Enright’s career spanned a half-century, and he was a pioneer in many now-common financing strategies.  “He was a premier banker, always innovating and searching for client solutions that would save money,”

Taxpayers shoulder a heavy burden for sports stadium subsidies, the Tax Foundation said this week. Reams of research shows that using bonds to finance sports stadiums and arenas do not generate enough revenue to justify the costs, the foundation said in a blog post Thursday. “According to the academic research, the tangible economic benefits job

The California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank board of directors approved $26 million in loan financing for the city of Santa Cruz for two wastewater improvement system projects, IBank officials said Thursday. The funding will help the city replace and upgrade decades-old equipment with the aim of preventing costly repairs, protecting pipelines from corrosion, improving

The next generation of public policymakers and public finance practitioners will mingle with current municipal finance pros at a career forum hosted by the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy’s Center for Municipal Finance. During the week of Oct. 14, the CMF will hold lunchtime seminars designed to help interested students get the

The end of a brief strike by longshoremen at East and Gulf Coast ports eases immediate credit concerns for the ports, although the lynchpin of the agreement, a 62% salary increase, may nibble away at the bottom lines for some ports over the long term. The strike between the International Longshoremen’s Association representing 45,000 workers

After taking a hit in the wake of the deadly 2023 wildfire that devastated the West Maui town of Lahaina, municipal bonds issued for investor-owned utility Hawaiian Electric are on an upswing. The debt, trading in the secondary market as low as 63 cents on the dollar last year, had recovered to the 95 and

Municipals faced some pressure Thursday as U.S. Treasuries saw losses amid geopolitical uncertainty and mixed macroeconomic data ahead of Friday’s payrolls figure while equities were off near the close. The last large new-issues priced in the primary and secondary trading pointed to some weakness, leading to small cuts to triple-A yield curves.  Municipal bond mutual

Moody’s Ratings upgraded about $900 million of various Florida special tax debt as well as its Garvee bonds Tuesday stemming in part from the application of the agency’s new U.S. states and territories rating methodology. The rating agency upgraded $317.5 million of lottery revenue bonds to Aa1 from Aa3 issued through the Florida State Board

The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure prides itself on staying away from drama, but could witness a post-election power struggle for leadership, as industry groups hedge their post-election bets.   “Depending on which party is in the majority, APTA’s strategy and tactics, particularly our messaging, may change,” said Paul P. Skoutelas, American Public Transportation Association