Bonds

BondWave LLC’s portfolio analytics suite, Effi, has introduced a new feature, Rules, where users can filter attributes of bonds in their portfolios.  Michael Ruvo, BondWave’s CEO, described Rules as an “overlay” to each portfolio, where users can apply criteria including 20 different portfolio constraints and almost 20 different objectives.  Through Rules, users can filter for

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s preliminary financial plan predicts the agency will have balanced budgets through 2027. With the additional aid provided in the state’ fiscal 2024 state budget, the MTA now projects a balanced budget through 2027, the first time in more than 20 years it has forecast a balanced budget for five

The untimely death of Yvette Shields has left an irreparable void in the municipal bond business. This void may never be closed because it represents a deep pain in our collective hearts. Many of us for years have toiled away in this great industry to build communities. There have been challenges along the way such

New Jersey Transit’s newly passed fiscal 2024 budget includes no new fare hikes and increased spending year-over-year, in the face of a looming fiscal cliff. NJ Transit’s board passed a $2.86 billion operating budget on Wednesday that’s 4.1% bigger than fiscal 2023’s, with 60% of costs associated with labor and fringe benefits and 31% linked

Munis were slightly weaker in spots, but triple-A yield curves largely ignored U.S. Treasury losses following the release of economic data that saw initial jobless claims fall below expectations. Equities ended mixed. Municipal bond mutual fund saw inflows return with Refinitiv Lipper on Thursday reporting investors added $1.040 billion to funds for the week ending

MarketAxess has expanded the integration of its municipal bond products with software firm Investortools’ platform to display them through the Investortools Dealer Network. This collaboration is the next stage of FIX connection integration and will bring together Investortools’ portfolio of analytics and trading tools with MarketAxess’ trading capabilities and CUSIP services for a wide-ranging picture

Fifth Third Securities has been added to the growing list of underwriters charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission for violating its limited offering exemption. For its role in in issuing 79 offerings without obtaining the required disclosures, Fifth Third, without admitting or denying the findings, has agreed to settle the charges, cease and desist

The Sacramento County Department of Airports launched efforts to completely reimagine the airport earlier this year — and is now working out the details on how it will finance the project. To limit the amount of debt the airport would need to issue through long-term revenue bonds, airport leaders are working creatively to construct a

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will discuss its proposed change to a one-minute trade reporting window at its upcoming meeting on July 26-27. The board’s amendments to Rule G-14 on transaction reporting obligations caught the ire of dealer groups who argued that benefits to the change would be speculative at best and that shortening trading

Yvette Christine Shields, longtime Bond Buyer reporter who spent decades building a stellar career as one of Chicago’s finest and well-known financial reporters with a national reputation in the public finance industry, died unexpectedly this week. She was 57. Shields died early Wednesday at a Chicago hospital after a brief illness. “Yvette was everything a

Munis continued to show strength Wednesday as several large new issues priced to good demand, with New York City Transitional Finance Authority seeing yields fall as much as of 14 basis points from Tuesday’s retail scales and Salt Lake City upsizing its deal. U.S. Treasuries improved and equities ended in the black. Triple-A yields were

Data standardization across the municipal market will likely take years and much discussion to pinpoint the issues and how the market can solve them. Some of the apparent problems were discussed at the Brookings Municipal Finance Conference where Marc Joffe, federalism and state policy analyst at the Cato Institute, presented his paper outlining them. “If

Oklahoma’s attorney general is pursuing potential legal action against parties that may have illegally profited off of huge demand for electricity and natural gas during 2021’s Winter Storm Uri, which led to nearly $2.9 billion of bonds being sold last year to cover extraordinary costs incurred by four utility companies.  AG Gentner Drummond announced Tuesday

The Supreme Court of Georgia recently put an end to a long-running legal dispute that held up a state-backed development deal with electric vehicle maker Rivian. The state’s high court last week declined to hear an appeal filed by local residents opposed to the validation of $15 billion of bonds backing the construction of a

As officials in Vermont assess damage from recent floods on a scale not seen since Hurricane Irene battered the state in 2011, they’re taking stock for the first time of the effect climate-mitigation efforts may have had. Flooding in Vermont triggered by several days of heavy rainfall last week caused “catastrophic damage” to infrastructure statewide,

The state of Florida has paid down $400 million of the state’s liabilities through its new Debt Reduction Program, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday, saying the move saved taxpayers millions of dollars. In June, DeSantis signed the $116.5 billion budget for fiscal 2023–24, which established the debt reduction program within the Division of Bond Finance.

Municipals continued to improve Tuesday in constructive secondary trading while a retail pricing of $950 million for the New York City Transitional Finance Authority took focus in the primary. U.S. Treasuries were slightly firmer out long and equities rallied. Triple-A yields fell up to four basis points, depending on the curve, while U.S. Treasuries were

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava presented her proposed $11.7 billion fiscal 2023-2024 budget, featuring tax cuts, on Monday. “With this year’s budget, we’re creating a more future-ready Miami-Dade — building for today and investing in tomorrow,” Levine Cava said. “With this fiscally smart, compassionate budget, we’re investing in our residents’ needs today and building

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson Friday signed into law a 2% municipal sales tax rate, marking the end of a long-fought battle to shore up the city’s ailing finances, which have been hit by rising pension costs. “We’ve accomplished something huge, something major, something extraordinary for our city,” Johnson, surrounded by local and state officials in

Fitch Ratings raised the rating on about $1.25 billion of outstanding Kansas Department of Transportation highway revenue bonds to AA with a stable outlook from AA-minus, citing solid credit attributes. The upgrade “reflects the steady performance of the pledged revenue stream throughout the pandemic, growth in KDOT’s available fund balances, and improvements in the underlying

The Environmental Protection Agency announced two national competitions funded with $20 billion of grant money aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions primarily in underserved areas. The funds will flow through what the EPA called “national financing institutions” that function as green banks. The EPA also promotes the use of munis and green bonds for clean energy