Bonds

Federal Reserve Board Governor Michelle Bowman.Julia Nikhinson/Bloomberg The Federal Reserve cited slower price growth and a softer labor market in its decision to lower interest rates by a half percentage point this week, but one policymaker sees those trends differently.  Fed Gov. Michelle Bowman voted against the decision Wednesday, noting that she would have preferred

The death knell isn’t ringing for the tax exemption on municipal bonds, according to a panel at the National Association of Bond Lawyers conference, at least not yet — although the panel suggested the industry remind lawmakers of the role bonds play in their communities. The exemption remains an issue as policymakers will need to

Private activity bond issuance that could be flowing from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill is stuck in a quagmire of regulations and unanswered questions.   “This all came in with a bunch of fanfare a couple of years ago and everyone thought it was going to be the next big thing, and unfortunately, it’s just sitting there,”

The House is expected to be working the weekend in order to bring a vote early next week on the continuing resolution, the funding package that is Congress’ best bet on keeping the government open after the fiscal year ends Sept. 30. Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s six month funding package failed on

Dozens of local and state governments won grants under a new program that encourages them to inventory their assets with an eye toward potential monetization. The Innovative Finance and Asset Concession Grant program is a closely watched program in the public-private partnership program and a centerpiece of federal P3 policy. Established in the 2021 Infrastructure

The Gateway Development Commission expects to finalize its last grant for the Hudson Tunnel Project by the end of the month, according to its CFO, Pat McCoy.  With the $3.8 billion grant from the Federal Railroad Administration, the project will have secured all of its funding, McCoy said at his fireside chat with the Municipal

Jason Akers got hooked on public finance early. The National Association of Bond Lawyers’ new president was fresh out of school, working for a large Southeast firm, when one of its bond lawyers took him under his wing. “I enjoyed the interaction with public officials, helping to make their ideas reality,” Akers told The Bond

The municipal-bond market’s largest high-yield fund is poised to offload its biggest position — equity shares of a power company called Vistra Vision LLC.  Nuveen LLC has reached an agreement to sell its 11% stake in Vistra Vision to Vistra Corp., in a deal expected to close in December, according to statement late Wednesday. The

The Sacramento County, California, Airport System plans to come to market with $478 million of revenue bonds Tuesday into a packed primary calendar that includes two other airport bond sales. Chris Wimsatt, Sacramento International Airport’s deputy director of finance, isn’t worried about competition from the other airport deals, because the debt will not be subject

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.

A larger than expected federal funds rate cut on Wednesday caught a lot of market experts off guard.  “I was surprised by the size of the cut,” said Vikram Rai, head of municipal markets strategy for Wells Fargo.  ”I was expecting 25 basis points, but you can rationalize 25 or 50.  Muni investors have waited for this,

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

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

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.

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

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