Bonds

Nashville, Tennessee received a series of upgrades from S&P Global this week. The credit agency on Monday boosted Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County’s long-term general obligation debt rating to AA+ from AA. The upgrades also apply to obligations supported by its non-tax revenue. The outlook is stable. The action reflected Nashville’s efforts to “strengthen its

Municipals were firmer Wednesday, but underperformed a U.S. Treasury rally that followed the June consumer price index report showed inflation cooling. Equities ended the session up. Triple-A yields fell up to three basis points while UST saw yields fall by as much as 18 basis points. Ratios rose as a result. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio

The Dodd-Frank Act’s provisions to protect municipal issuers lowered interest costs in the muni market by a significant amount, according to research released Tuesday.  “I estimate that for an average bond issue, Dodd-Frank resulted in about $600,000 in interest cost savings,” writes Ruth Winecoff, assistant professor, public policy at Rutgers University. “For a bond issue

Harvey, Illinois, is targeting an August settlement date in its long-planned tender exchange offer on its defaulted general obligation bonds. The exchange that launched this week would allow investors to shed the bonds’ default status, resolve investor litigation, and give the fiscally troubled Chicago suburb more time to repay its debt. The city posted the exchange

The state of Illinois has reached a tentative $68 million settlement with a group of Wall Street banks accused of fixing interest rates on the state’s variable-rate demand bonds, but the plaintiff that filed the lawsuit called it a “fake settlement” designed to stall a looming trial date. The eight Wall Street banks and Illinois

Borrowers for a revitalization project for Graceland Mansion, the fabled former home and resting place of Elvis Presley, missed another debt service payment at the beginning of the month. Long a tourism magnet for Memphis, Tennessee, Graceland has failed to see visitors return to pre-pandemic levels, and borrowers of bonds issued in 2017 to finance

North Carolina Treasurer Dale Folwell praised the General Assembly’s override of Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of legislation on environmental social and governance issues. Late last month, the General Assembly overrode the governor’s veto of House Bill 750, which removed political and social considerations from state pension plan investment decisions. “I think the citizens of this

Rising costs, particularly for wages, are pressuring K-12 school districts, colleges and universities, possibly leading to strained budgets, credit negative responses and labor strife, according to Moody’s Investors Service.  While inflation growth has slowed, its effects linger. The consumer price index was up 3% from June 2022 to June 2023, marking the smallest 12-month increase

Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. hired Marc Livolsi, formerly of Citigroup, as managing director of public finance marketing. Livolsi, who worked at Citigroup Global Markets Inc. for 25 years until the bank cut his position in February along with two others in its municipal team, will focus on building relationships with public finance professionals as well

Municipals were steady Tuesday as the new-issue calendar picked up steam, including nearly $1 billion from Texas’ Denton Independent School District and an upsized deal from Utah’s Intermountain Power Agency. U.S. Treasuries were slightly firmer outside of five years and equities ended the session in the black. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Tuesday was at 61%,

Advance refunding tax-exempt debt with taxable bonds prior to the call date does not always pay off, a new research paper shows. Those are the findings of Andrew Kalotay, president of Kalotay Advisors, and Martin Luby, associate professor, public affairs, associate dean of academics at University of Texas at Austin. They released a paper on

Puerto Rico’s economy showed strength in May according to the economic activity index released Tuesday. The index was up 1.8% from a year earlier and 0.8% from a month earlier, according to the Economic Development Bank for Puerto Rico. Advantage Business Consulting President Vicente Feliciano said Puerto Rico’s economy was strong enough that it would

The recent controversial Supreme Court ruling banning affirmative action may force colleges and universities to boost enrollment with costly outreach programs amid the prospect of chilled interest from nonwhite students who represent the only growing segment of future student demand.   Ratings analysts said the June 29 SCOTUS ruling itself would not impact ratings —

The Wisconsin biennial budget package taps the state’s flush coffers to offset borrowing needed for capital, while also paving the way for a centuries-long hike in local education funding and scaled-down tax relief, reshaped by Gov. Tony Evers through his veto pen.  Evers, a Democrat, had initially pitched a $3.3 billion capital spending plan that

Transcription:Jessica Lerner (00:03):Hello everyone and welcome to another Bond Buyer podcast. I’m Jessica Lerner, markets reporter at the Bond Buyer. I’m happy to welcome Nick Venditti, municipal bond portfolio manager with Allspring Global Investments. Welcome, Nick.  Nick Venditti (00:18):Thank you so much for having me.  Jessica Lerner (00:19):Yeah, it’s great to talk again. The first

Municipals were mixed Monday ahead of a larger new-issue slate while U.S. Treasuries improved and equities were up near the close. Triple-A yields saw a mix of one to two basis point bumps and cuts, depending on the curve, while UST saw yields fall by one to 11 basis points with the strongest moves inside

Environmentally friendly infrastructure got a big boost just before California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the budget on July 1 and then again last week through a grant-funding program. With the budget shortfall this year, lawmakers scrambled to tap the state’s cap-and-trade program and other non-general fund sources to sustain ongoing programs. California lawmakers added money

Municipal underwriters handled $171.714 billion in 3,501 issues in the first half of 2023. The total par amount and issues continued to decline, down from $201.119 billion in 4,688 deals in 2022.  BofA Securities remained at the top of the list, with $22.948 billion, accounting for 13.4% of the market, but the rest of the

Former Sterlington, Louisiana, mayor Vern Breland has agreed to settle a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit that alleged he and Sterling’s municipal advisor, Aaron Fletcher of Twin Spires Financial, misled investors on two offerings worth $5.8 million. Without admitting or denying the findings, Breland has been permanently barred from participating in future issuances of municipal

After months of feuding on how to deliver a massive property tax cut, Texas legislative leaders announced Monday they reached an agreement on a bill that could be sent to Gov. Greg Abbott later this week.  With the state projected to end its fiscal 2022-23 biennium on Aug. 31 with a record $32.7 billion budget

Municipal financial advisors saw $146.805 billion of business in 2,685 transactions in the first half of 2023, down from $167.727 billion in 3,484 deals over the same time period in 2022. Municipal Capital Markets Group, Columbia Capital Management and Caine Mitter and Associates moved into the top 10, while Baker Tilly Municipal Advisors, Stifel Nicolaus