Bonds

Municipals were slightly firmer in spots Wednesday, as U.S. Treasury yields rose and equities saw more losses after January’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes showed the Fed was not in a hurry to cut rates. Triple-A yield curves were firmer by a basis point or two while a larger new-issue calendar was the focus

The Biden administration Tuesday announced $5.8 billion in water infrastructure funds for states, tribes and territories, the latest round of funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act record level of clean water investment. Th money includes $3.2 billion for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund for water projects and $2.6 billion for the Clean Water

The Midwest region saw larger municipal bond deals yet fewer issues in 2023 compared to the previous year. Robust deal amounts in nearly half the region’s states offset declines in the remaining states in both overall volume and number of issues. Tax-exempt new money deals surged as Illinois overshadowed its neighbors in both deal size

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 nearly $1.5 billion. The top 20 bond financings have a cumulative amount of more than $13 billion. Scroll through to see which bond financings are in the top

While pension funded ratios for states and other municipal issuers have improved in the last five years, measures of pension safety have deteriorated, analysts say. The condition of pensions is still the “elephant in the room” for municipal bonds, said HilltopSecurities Managing Director Tom Kozlik. Supporting pensions absorbs a large percentage of government spending. “That’s

Municipals were little changed Tuesday as most investors were awaiting new-issue supply, U.S. Treasuries offered little direction in a mixed session and equities were down near the close. Wednesday will see the release of January’s Federal Open Market Committee Meeting minutes, which “should show any division amongst the committee members as to the continued direction

The Federal Railroad Administration has proposed 15 daily long-distance Amtrak routes as part of the Biden administration’s effort to create a national passenger rail system. The FRA is seeking feedback on the preferred routes by March 8, and plans to make final recommendations to Congress in the spring. The map of 15 routes, released Friday

A private university based in Milwaukee will borrow $163.7 million through tax-exempt bonds to finance the construction of new emergency response facilities for the Wisconsin and Milwaukee County governments. The Medical College of Wisconsin is leasing land on the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center campus to the state and county, and is building a new state

Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors. 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. Caitlin Devitt (00:04): Hello and welcome to another Bond Buyer podcast. I’m Caitlin Devitt, senior Infrastructure

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has formally withdrawn its 2024 rate card filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, an administrative move that keeps in place the reverted rates from 2023. The board has also initiated a retrospective review of the annual rate card process and said it intends to take a hard look at

The amount of debt wrapped by bond insurance rose 5.8% in 2023, leading to the highest market penetration rate since 2008, despite the second year of down issuance. Demand for bond insurance has continued to grow in 2023 as market participants turned to it for investor confidence, increased market liquidity and enhanced credit ratings. All

Total 2023 municipal bond sale volume ticked down slightly year-over-year, but a robust fourth quarter and a late yearend rally saved last year from being the second consecutive year of issuance down double digits. Total volume in 2023 was $384.715 billion in 8,081 deals, down only 1.7% from $391.298 billion in 9,185 deals in 2022,

Issuance of variable rate demand obligations and other floating-rate debt increased in 2023 year-over-year — despite swings in short-term rates — marking the highest total since 2017. However, market participants remain uncertain whether that trend will continue into 2024 as issuers rethink the product amid continued volatility. Variable rate issuance rose 13.8% in 2023, increasing

Southwest municipal bond issuance inched higher last year to $83.79 billion with Texas, which accounted for 70% of the debt, taking the top volume crown among states nationwide.  The region’s 0.6% gain over 2022 contrasted with the market’s overall 2.8% issuance decline,  according to LSEG Data & Analytics, formerly Refinitiv. Market volatility, higher interest rates,

Average underwriting spreads for all bonds were stagnant in 2023, continuing a 15-year downward trend, but negotiated and refunding deal spreads rose while competitive spreads fell. Underwriter spread ticked up slightly, rising to $3.66 in 2023 from $3.64 in 2022. Spreads on negotiated bonds rose to $3.76 in 2023 from $3.62 in 2022, while spreads

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has censured and fined Morgan Stanley $1.6 million for failing to close out 239 inter-dealer transactions within twenty days, as well as for failing to obtain physical possession of 247 short positions. In doing so, the banking giant violated MSRB Rule G-12(h) on uniform industry practices, MSRB Rule G-27 on

Sparse secondary trading and the long holiday weekend allowed municipals to outperform U.S. Treasuries and corporates Friday as the dearth of primary issuance has kept investors engaged without demanding as much concession despite volatility. Triple-A yields were slightly cheaper on the short end while UST yields rose up to nine basis points on the short

Austin, Texas, officials are heading to court to seek validation for a controversial issuance of bonds to help fund a multi-billion-dollar light-rail project. The Austin City Council on Thursday authorized the move, as well as amendments to an agreement with the Austin Transit Partnership (ATP), a corporation created by the city and its Capital Metro

Paulina Woo was named senior director of treasury management in Western Alliance Bank’s corporate finance and public and nonprofit finance groups. In her new role, Woo, who is based in Phoenix, will lead teams that tailor banking solutions for municipalities, local governments, nonprofit organizations, corporations and institutional investors. “Western Alliance Bank provides a distinctive set

As the infrastructure law nears the halfway point of its life, the rollout of its expanded Buy America provision, a key part of President Joe Biden’s bid to strengthen American manufacturing, has been confusing and failed to address gaps in the domestic supply chain. That was the message from state transportation departments and construction experts

Exceptions for manual trades and limited trading activity are crucial if the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s amendments to Rule G-14, its controversial move to a one-minute reporting standard from the current fifteen minute window, is adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission. That’s according to comments submitted to the SEC, which ranged from cautious acceptance