Bonds

January issuance was up year-over-year as positive market momentum from yearend, growing capital needs, tighter credit spreads and planning for dwindling federal stimulus dollars prompted issuers to come to market. January’s total volume rose 16.1% to $27.928 billion in 474 issues from $24.056 billion in 497 issues in 2023. Issuance for the month is slightly

The city of Jacksonville, Florida, is seeking bids for underwriters to manage its bond issues for the next several years. The Sunshine State’s biggest city, with more than 950,000 residents — and the largest in area in the entire continental U.S. — is soliciting information from qualified firms to serve as senior managing underwriter or

When Fitch Ratings this month downgraded Marshfield Clinic Health System, a nonprofit group of 11 hospitals based in central Wisconsin, to BBB from BBB-plus, it cited operating losses due in part to wage pressures from reliance on contract nurses and temporary physicians.  The downgrade applied both to Marshfield’s issuer rating and the revenue bonds issued

The University of Arizona’s fiscal problems will be solved over the next 18 to 36 months as system-wide changes are made, according to school officials who are under pressure from Gov. Katie Hobbs to take action.  In a presentation Monday to faculty and others, Arizona Board of Regents Chair Fred DuVal said two forensic firms

The University of Washington’s outlook was revised to negative from stable by Moody’s Investors Service and its Aaa issuer rating affirmed ahead of its plans to issue tax-exempt revenue bonds next week. The negative outlook “was driven by the university’s thinning operating performance that reflects both expense pressures in the university’s own operations as well

Municipals were slightly firmer Tuesday as new-issues from the New York Thruway Authority and the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency’s Children’s Hospital were well-received. U.S. Treasuries were mixed as were equities ahead of the Fed rates decision Wednesday. Triple-A yields were bumped one to four basis points, depending on the curve, while UST saw yields fall

The Securities and Exchange Commission has suspended the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s 2024 rate card fee model, returning all fees the MSRB collects to 2023 levels and raising immediate questions about what fees will be applied to bonds that have already sold but have yet to close. The Commission received the MSRB filing one business

Maryland Democrat Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, a founder and co-chair of the bipartisan House Municipal Finance Caucus, announced he will step down at the end of his current term. “Clearly he will leave a void,” said Brett Bolton, vice president of federal legislative and regulatory policy at the Bond Dealers of America. “He’s been on the

The veteran-owned investment bank Academy Securities has been censured and fined $30,000 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for failing to file Form G-37 reports disclosing the extent of its underwriting base in a timely manner. Without admitting or denying the findings, Academy agreed to the fine and censure in violation of MSRB Rule G-37

Recent economic data have made it clear the Federal Open Market Committee will not cut interest rates at its meeting this week and most analysts believe the March 19-20 meeting isn’t in play either, but beyond that, the thoughts about timing and number of rate reductions varies. The rate cuts will begin in June “and

An elite private school catering to Los Angeles’ wealthiest residents is tapping the municipal bond market as it looks to expand its campus and add to its academic offerings.  Curtis School is seeking to raise $24.3 million in revenue bonds through the California Enterprise Development Authority in a sale pricing Wednesday. The exclusive elementary school

An Arizona state senator is once again attempting to pass a law banning governmental contracts with companies, including banks that underwrite municipal bonds, that “discriminate” against the firearm industry.  For the 2024 legislative session, Republican Frank Carroll introduced legislation that would take the question to voters, bypassing Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, who vetoed his bill

Municipals were little changed to start the week, while U.S. Treasuries were firmer and equities were up late in the trading session. The muni market enters 2024 with “stable credit fundamentals, supportive demand/supply dynamics, and low [muni-UST] ratios and compressed credit spreads,” said Adam Stern, co-head of research at Breckinridge. On the technical front, he

The biggest municipal bond deal of the week is coming to market on Tuesday even as a state lawmaker is proposing to abolish the very authority that is issuing the debt. The New York State Thruway Authority this week is bringing $1.027 billion of Series P general revenue bonds in a transaction led by J.P.

Florida lawmakers are asking Congress to expand the use of tax-exempt private activity bonds to include commercial spaceports. “The push for Congress to grant spaceport bonds tax-exempt status has been a conversation for many years,” said a spokesperson for Space Florida, the state’s aerospace finance and development authority, which oversees the development of the Florida’s

Brandon Comer and his firm Comer Capital Group, the Mississippi-based municipal advisor to the library district of the City of Harvey, Illinois, have been fined a total of $86,000 in a final judgment reached in the Northern District of Illinois after years of litigation. Without admitting or denying the allegations of the Securitiesand Exchange Commission’s

Muni market participants and analysts expect certain sectors and subsectors to experience credit weakness and the U.S. presidential elections and federal policy potentially having major impacts on the municipal market this year. The Bond Buyer released survey results in a report titled, “After two stormy years, munis face still more uncertainty,” which detailed predictions and

The use of premium bonds has ignited a dispute between Vermont’s most populous city and the state auditor. The state auditor found that the city of Burlington issued more debt than it was approved for under the state’s tax increment financing law and made more than a million dollars of accounting errors. The city’s Downtown

Municipals were lightly traded and little changed Friday ahead of a smaller new-issue calendar amid the Federal Open Market Committee meeting while U.S. Treasuries were weaker. Equities were mixed to close the session. Rates have continued creeping higher and muni yields have been following, as the “positive effect of the year-end technicals has finally started

After two consecutive years of investors pulling money from muni mutual funds, January has gotten off to a better start as the market has seen the return on inflows.  “The driver of the improvement in net fund flows is not necessarily new buyers coming into the market; it’s the conclusion of tax loss swap selling

The list of investment banks no longer eligible to underwrite municipal bonds in Texas due to their lack of compliance with state laws aimed at protecting the fossil fuel and firearm industries grew on Friday with the addition of Barclays.  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office announced that “until further notice, we will not approve