Bonds

Municipal issuers have seen more upgrades this year than downgrades, continuing a trend that began in 2021, while the overall rated universe of muni issuers has also grown. If current economic conditions persist, the trend will likely continue for the foreseeable future, market participants said. The total rated share of the market increased in the

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bondholders requested documents they say will support their motion to lift the stay on seeking a receiver, in a motion filed Monday night. Syncora Guarantee and GoldenTree Asset Management want documents detailing PREPA’s monthly reports of financial activity to determine how PREPA is calculating and disposing of net revenues. Further

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s “regulation by enforcement” came under fire on Tuesday during a House Financial Services hearing that brought into question how effective its enforcement wing is at doling out punishments and how effective certain regulatory matters can be on their own. Some lawmakers said they were concerned about regulatory trends like the

Broker-dealer firms are stepping up in the primary market to fill the gap left by Citi’s dramatic exit from the municipal bond business last December, but a test of how secondary market liquidity stands up to the firm’s departure remains to be seen. That’s according to broker-dealer and financial advisor panelists speaking Monday at the

A production slowdown at aircraft maker Boeing after problems emerged in its 737 Max line is starting to impact airports, with Southwest Airlines recently announcing it is ending operations at three U.S. locations and cutting service in others.  While the move is not raising immediate credit concerns for affected airports, analysts are keeping an eye

Citing Arkansas’ “financial resiliency,” S&P Global Ratings revised the outlook on the state’s AA general obligation bond rating to positive from stable. The rating agency’s action Thursday came ahead of the state’s sale of about $30 million of water, waste disposal and pollution abatement facilities GO bonds. “S&P’s improved outlook for the state from ‘stable’

Municipals improved Monday in constructive secondary trading as investors await the larger new-issue slate. U.S. Treasuries were mixed while equities made gains. Triple-A curves saw yields fall two to three basis points while USTs were a touch weaker on the short end and a bit firmer out long. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Monday was at

Although New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams didn’t shed much light on the timing of federal interest rate cuts during a fireside chat at Milken Institute’s Global conference in Beverly Hills on Monday, he did offer some insight into his thinking. Amid stubbornly high inflation, the Federal Reserve reiterated in its post-meeting statement

BlackRock has laid off several employees as the firm’s municipal market division is in the midst of a reorganization. At least nine employees have been laid off, including portfolio managers, credit analysts and managing directors, said a source familiar with the departures. While BlackRock declined to comment on the layoffs, the firm “continuously organizes its

Illinois will issue $1.8 billion of general obligation bonds — $250 million taxable Series 2024A and $1.55 billion tax-exempt Series 2024B — to fund accelerated pension benefit payments and capital expenditures through the Rebuild Illinois program.  The fixed-rate bonds are expected to price this week. Jefferies, Siebert Williams Shank and Barclays are joint senior managers

Companies don’t want to move to Pennsylvania, Gov. Josh Shapiro said in his budget address. Mainly, because it’s too hard to move in. Intel notoriously passed over Pennsylvania for Ohio for a $20 billion factory back in 2022 — “I’m sick and tired of losing to friggin’ Ohio,” Shapiro said in his speech — and

Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors. Citi’s exit from the municipal bond market in December 2023, and UBS’s exit from the negotiated underwriting business in October 2023, have inspired many firms, from Piper Sandler to Huntington National Bank, to scoop up talent from the two organizations, seeing an

All markets rallied on the weaker jobs data, leading municipals to see yields fall up to eight basis points on what typically is a quiet Friday session, following a better-performing U.S. Treasury market. Equities closed in the black. The softer-than-expected April employment report led to some analysts believing this could put rate cuts back on

Oklahoma’s list of investment banks determined to be “boycotting” the fossil fuel industry expanded with the addition of Barclays, making it ineligible for state and local government contracts, State Treasurer Todd Russ announced Friday.  Barclays joins Bank of America, JP Morgan, and Wells Fargo, which were placed on the list last year under the state’s

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green failed to convince lawmakers to consider legislation that would have allowed struggling Hawaii Electric Co. to issue bonds backed by a rate increase. Senate Bill 2922, introduced by Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Chair Jarrett Keohokalole, would have allowed HECO to issue up to $2.5 billion in low-interest bonds, if it

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board warned the government it will sue to stop a recently passed law that would reduce Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority revenues for the next 26 years by preventing a change in the net metering policy. In a letter to Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi, Senate President José Dalmau Santiago, and

As Florida’s Brightline passenger train floated its first investment-grade and insured bonds in a high-profile transaction last week, a key part of the deal for insurer Assured Guaranty was the control it would have if the issuer runs into debt payment trouble. Assured wraps $1.13 billion, or 51%, of the $2.219 billion of senior bonds

When Oregon voters consider $1.23 billion in bond measures on the May 21 ballot, issuers will be hoping for a more favorable outcome than local issuers received in November. Only two bond measures totaling $19 million were approved in November out of the $474.95 million requested during the special election. “Historically, the November election has

Municipals were slightly firmer Thursday as U.S. Treasury yields fell and equities were better to close the session. Municipal bond mutual funds saw another week of inflows as investors added $515.5 million for the week ending Wednesday after $200.3 million of inflows the week prior, according to LSEG Lipper. High-yield funds also saw inflows to

Federal funding programs that rely on public private partnerships and championed by the Department of Transportation are pushing municipalities into hard comparisons of P3’s to traditional bond offerings.   “The amount of time that I spent on bond issuance was about twenty minutes spent signing the paperwork and maybe ten minutes with the CFO telling me

The U.S. Department of Transportation Wednesday announced its first-ever Transportation Infrastructure Financing and Innovation Act loan for a transit-oriented development project. The loan marks the first of what’s likely to be several similar loans from the USDOT’s Build America Bureau, which supports transportation development with a variety of financing structures, including public-private partnerships and private