Bonds

Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, faced persistent budget gaps patched with one-time revenues, two ratings downgrades since September, and its upcoming scoop-and-toss bond deal will yield spiking debt service costs in the coming years.  But the county believes its upcoming financial plan and hidden economic strengths will turn around its fortunes.  “For anyone who still thinks this

Municipals were firmer ahead of an uptick in issuance next week, while U.S. Treasury yields fell slightly and equities ended mixed. USTs extended their rally this week after receiving support from “softer” economic data as yields fell 18 to 24 basis points on the week and a total of 20 to 30 basis points month-to-date,

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said she still sees inflation risks as tilted to the upside despite welcome news in the latest data. Mester, speaking in print and television interviews Friday at Bloomberg’s New York office, also said the median projection of policymakers’ latest forecasts — which signaled just one interest-rate cut

Fitch Ratings upgraded San Diego County’s pension obligation bonds to AAA and affirmed a stable outlook during a review ahead of the county’s plans to price a $31.5 million certificates of participation refunding. Fitch upgraded $211 million outstanding POBs to AAA from AA-plus, matching the agency’s issuer rating for the county. It also affirmed the

Transit agencies across the country are being forced to deal with new trends in ridership, new travel patterns, and dwindling federal funds from pandemic- related relief that make the next few years crucial for bringing our nation’s transit system into the new world. That was the takeaway from the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing

Louis English joined Janney Montgomery Scott as managing director and head of municipal sales within the fixed-income division. He will be based out of the firm’s Chicago office. English comes to Janney from Baird, where he worked as a producing sales manager. He also worked as a municipal salesperson at Mesirow, Loop Capital Markets and

When Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett announced he’d be pursuing a Major League Soccer team for his city, it appeared to throw Indianapolis’ previous plans for a new stadium development — spearheaded by the owner of the city’s United Soccer League team, the Indy Eleven, Ersal Ozdemir — into doubt.  But city officials subsequently revealed that

Los Angeles County rode into the market this week on a high note after getting a one-notch upgrade to AAA from Fitch Ratings. The county’s finance team, led by Morgan Stanley, priced $700 million of 2024-25 tax and revenue anticipation notes Tuesday with 5% coupons maturing in June 2025 at 3.25%. “We set our expectation

In the last few weeks, readers had their attention trained on updates in mortgage-related court cases, developments in AI and notable actions of government agencies.  Here are the recent most-read stories from National Mortgage News you may have missed. These articles were reported by Brad Finkelstein, Bonnie Sinnock, Maria Volkova, Andrew Martinez, and Spencer Lee,

The public finance community hailed Wednesday’s First Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bondholders had a lien on net revenues. Observers say the decision sends a message that the municipal revenue bond pledge is strong, the Oversight Board’s plan of adjustment for PREPA as it currently is proposed is unlikely

Municipals were firmer Thursday following a stronger U.S. Treasury session while municipal bond mutual funds reported the second consecutive week of inflows. Equities closed the session mixed. Triple-A yields fell one to five basis points while USTs saw gains of seven to nine basis points. The moves pushed muni to UST ratios slightly higher. The

The Houston city council passed a fiscal 2025 budget Wednesday that eschews tax increases or new fees and taps a general fund balance to help fill a structural budget gap. Mayor John Whitmore said the $7.3 billion all-funds budget, which includes about $3 billion in general fund spending, was responsible, while noting the city continues

The D.C. City Council tentatively passed a budget on Wednesday that includes eliminating the tax exemption on interest from out-of-state bonds.  The D.C. Office of the Chief Financial Officer believes eliminating the exemption will save $7.7 million in fiscal year 2025 and about $16 million annually thereafter.  The OCFO has still not given the final

The country’s largest public pension fund came under fire Wednesday from House Republicans, who accused the fund of being part of a “climate cartel” that illegally colludes with other investors to try to force companies to reduce their carbon footprint. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System was one of four witnesses called by the Republican

Puerto Rico is no closer to exiting external oversight after the release of its most recent audited financials. That’s according to a letter the Puerto Rico Oversight Board sent to the commonwealth’s treasury earlier this month following the April release of Puerto Rico’s annual comprehensive financial report for fiscal 2022. Four consecutive years of balanced

Most sectors showed flat growth of muni ownership quarter-over-quarter, but year-over-year Federal Reserve data shows the continued trend of increases in separately managed accounts and decreases in bank and insurance company holdings. The face amount of munis outstanding ticked up to $4.081 trillion, a 0.6% increase from Q4 2023 and 1% from Q1 2023, according

The U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals almost entirely overturned a lower court’s reasoning that underlay an Oversight Board proposed Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority plan of adjustment, in what appears to be a major bondholder victory. On Wednesday afternoon, a panel of appeals court judges ruled unanimously that PREPA bondholders had a perfected lien

Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors. The top five bond financings in the ranking have an average dollar volume of more than $1.9 billion. The top 18 bond financings have a cumulative amount of nearly $18 billion. Scroll through to see which bond financings are in the top

Municipals traded stronger across the yield curve Wednesday, following an early rally in U.S. Treasuries after inflation data came in softer than anticipated. While Treasuries pared back some of those gains after the Federal Reserve held rates steady and the post-meeting statement signaled only one rate cut may come this year and spoke of “modest”

The Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to speed up the transition away from dirty energy sources like coal could pressure public power utility ratings, especially if it results in the accelerated retirement of coal-fired generation facilities, according to Fitch Ratings. Analysts say that accelerating a shift to clean power — particularly when the technology for carbon

A proposed settlement between Houston and its firefighters union moved forward Wednesday with the city council authorizing the issuance of $650 million of general obligation judgment bonds, although a vote on a collective bargaining agreement was delayed.   Both are part of a plan to end an eight-year contract impasse and litigation in Harris County District