Bonds

Municipals were little changed Thursday as U.S. Treasury yields rose and equities ended down. This year’s summer technical picture has been stronger than 2023, said AllianceBernstein strategists. Total returns for June through August last year were –0.04%, with August wiping out June and July gains as UST yields “jumped” and muni yields moved higher, they

The Warren County Board of Education in Kentucky approved issuance of $87 million in general obligation bonds last week. These will be among the first GO bonds issued by a Kentucky school district since the state government passed a law allowing them to sell GOs in April, to give school districts a method to address

Regulators are once again receiving pushback from dealer groups for continued efforts to move to a one-minute trade reporting standard, where criticisms range from questioning why such a proposal could ever work in fixed income markets to begin with, to constructive advice on how to further strengthen the exceptions they have proposed. This recent round

New Jersey is poised to sell up to $2.4 billion of bonds for its transportation infrastructure, according to a report from Fitch Ratings.  The New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority is expected to issue $1.3 billion of transportation system bonds and roughly $1.1 billion of transportation program bonds through a negotiated sale in October, the

The Bond Buyer announces its third annual class of inductees into its Hall of Fame of municipal finance, which recognizes and celebrates groundbreaking individuals who have left an indelible legacy on the muni community and the people and places it represents. The new class of groundbreaking Hall of Famers gives representation to a range of

Southeast municipal bond issuance bounced back in the first half of 2024, with dollar volume rising 42.4% from the first half of 2023. This followed a 29.9% decline in the first half of 2023 compared to the first half of 2022. The Southeast bond volume increase in first half of 2024 from the first half

Hall of Fame inductees will be honored at an awards dinner at the close of The Bond Buyer’s INFRASTRUCTURE conference, which takes place September 17–18, 2024, at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown. Scroll through to meet the Class of 2024. Full bios of each honoree will be posted over the next few weeks, in advance of

Municipals were mixed in secondary trading, as $1.8 billion of GOs from New York City came to market in two series, as U.S. Treasury yields fell and equities ended up. Several Federal Open Market Committee members saw a case to cut interest rates by 25 basis points in July, according to minutes of the July

Although charter school bonds seem to naturally lend themselves to a social label, there are inherent risks to taking that step. “One of the biggest questions that often come up is, what are the qualification requirements of being a social bond?” said Ryan Callender, partner, Squire Patton Boggs. “Unfortunately, there’s really no one answer to

Colleges and universities face an estimated $750 billion to $950 billion in spending over the next decade for deferred maintenance, facility upgrades, and construction projects, with the growing backlog of capital needs posing “a significant credit risk” for the higher education sector, according to Moody’s Ratings.  The rating agency said underinvestment in capital assets has

Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell’s much-anticipated speech at the Jackson Hole symposium should offer clues about the Fed’s thinking ahead of its September meeting, but with limits. “Fed watchers will be parsing Powell’s comments for signs that a 50bp rate cut is on the table for September,” noted Lauren Saidel-Baker, an economist with ITR

The National Association of Bond Lawyers will award Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., the Bernard P. Friel Medal and David Cholst the Federick O. Kiel Distinguished Service Award for their individual contributions to NABL and to the industry over the last four decades. Those will be given out during NABL’s The Workshop 2024, held in Chicago

Municipal bond issuers in the Midwest sold a bit more debt in the first half of 2024 than they did a year earlier, but the region largely missed out on big gains in bond volume nationwide. Midwest bond sale volume rose to $34.377 billion from $33.78 billion, according to data from LSEG, a 1.8% increase.

Municipals were firmer Tuesday as several of the week’s $12 billion calendar began pricing, led by New York City’s $1.5 billion being offered to retail investors, as U.S. Treasury yields fell and equities saw losses on the day. Triple-A yields fell by two to eight basis points depending on the curve, with the best performance

Federal Reserve Gov. Michelle Bowman.Julia Nikhinson/Bloomberg Federal Reserve Board Gov. Michelle Bowman said Tuesday she is not quite ready to sign off on an interest rate cut at next month’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting. In a speech delivered to the Alaska Bankers Association, Bowman said price growth continues to be “uncomfortably” high, adding that

A default on debt issued by a Texas town struggling with water scarcity led to multi-notch downgrades into junk by S&P Global Ratings and heightened concern about the impact of climate change on public finance.  Clyde, a city of less than 4,000 in central Texas, failed to make debt service payments due Aug. 1 on

Denver voters will consider a sales tax hike on the Nov. 5 ballot to raise about $100 million annually that could be tapped to back bonds for affordable housing. The city council voted 9-4 Monday for the 0.5% tax hike measure proposed by Mayor Mike Johnston in July to address Denver’s affordable homes shortage.  

Legislation pending in Congress that would limit the issuance of tax-exempt municipal bonds from states without so-called school choice laws illustrates the risk facing the municipal market’s prized exemption from agendas that are unrelated to state and local financing. With Congress set to take up major tax reform next year, many market participants fear that

As the fall conference circuit quickly approaches, Women in Public Finance (WPF) is taking a bold step forward. With the launch of our Women’s Speaker Bureau, WPF aims to amplify the voices of women professionals, foster visibility, and create a powerful resource for industry events.  We know that visibility is more than just being seen

Transcription: Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio for the authoritative record. Mike Scarchilli (00:04):Hi everyone, and welcome to The Bond Buyer Podcast, your essential resource for insights into everything municipal finance. I’m Mike Scarchilli, Editor-in-Chief for The Bond Buyer,

Municipal bond issuance in the Southwest jumped 29.8% to $50.6 billion in 2024’s first half with Texas accounting for 65% of the volume amid a deluge of debt from the education sector.  After a first quarter slump, issuance in the region zoomed 60.3% higher in the second quarter compared to the same period in 2023,