Bonds

<img src=”https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/20879380/thumbnail” width=”100%” alt=”chart visualization” /> Municipals sold off Thursday, playing catch up to the U.S. Treasury’s extended rout across most of the curve. Equities ended mixed as all markets further digested macroeconomic uncertainty and volatile policy swings coming out of Washington. Muni yields rose 12 to 19 basis points, depending on the scale, while

Bellarmine University had very weak debt service coverage levels in the last three fiscal years, Moody’s Ratings said.AdobeStock Bellarmine University was downgraded to B1 from Ba3 by Moody’s Ratings, affecting about $60 million of outstanding debt. The outlook is negative. The downgrade on the Kentucky-based school stemmed from declining enrollment, persistent use of reserves, and

“We hope that there will be some kind of resolution that Speaker Johnson can find between the wider variety of parties that are now entering the conversation of funding the federal government,” said Emily Brock, director of the federal liaison center at the Government Finance Officers Association.  GFOA The continuing resolution deal to keep the government

Moody’s Ratings does not rate Clyde, Texas, but it highlighted the city’s recent default in a report this week.Bloomberg News A small Texas city struggling with water scarcity disclosed this month that it took out a high-interest, short-term loan to repay companies that insured defaulted certificates of obligation. Clyde, a city of less than 4,000

A recent hack of a Michigan township should spur the the public finance industry to better understand and prepare for cybersecurity threats as hackers become more sophisticated. It also signals the industry needs a unified approach to disclosing those threats and to prepare for a higher price tag of insuring against them. White Lake Charter

A house with rooftop solar panels. Florida PACE Funding Agency, which finances installation of solar panels, is defending a $5 billion bond validation.Adobe Stock A Florida agency that offers PACE financing to property owners is at the center of a legal dispute that it says could catastrophically undermine the finality of all Florida bond validations.

<img src=”https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/20863349/thumbnail” width=”100%” alt=”chart visualization” /> Municipals lost more ground Wednesday, but outperformed a selloff in the U.S. Treasury market, after the Federal Open Market Committee signaled fewer rate cuts on the horizon, with a likely pause in January. Equities also sold off, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting a 10-day losing streak, the

Robert McDermott, the former Philadelphia budget director, has joined PFM as a director for its workforce consulting team. PFM Robert McDermott, the former Philadelphia budget director, has joined PFM as a director for its workforce consulting team.  McDermott is the latest veteran of Philadelphia’s finance department to join PFM, part of the firm’s ongoing strategy to

After the Pinellas County Commission approved bonds to help fu nda replacement for Tropicana Field, the team resurfaced a demand for more money, which had previously been rejected.Bloomberg News After the Pinellas County Commission approved $312 million of bonds to help finance construction of a professional baseball stadium, an old obstacle to the deal reappeared,

“The RFK Stadium bill is a win-win for the federal and D.C. governments,” said Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton. ”It would allow D.C. to transform the crumbling, long-vacant campus from acres of asphalt to a complex focused on community sports, recreation, park space and cultural amenities. Additionally, this bill would allow D.C. to create a mixed-used development

“I think the update does try to capture some of the new trends and how the industry has evolved,” said Dan Aschenbach, owner of AGVP Advisory and an author of a new NFMA paper on recommended best practices in disclosure for public power agencies and utilities.Dan Aschenbach Investors in public power bonds are looking for

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee introduced a 2025-27 biennium budget proposal Tuesday he says will need to account for billions in increased costs due to inflation.Washington office of the governor Washington Gov. Jay Inslee released a proposed balanced, belt-tightening, biennium budget for 2025-27 in response to $12.6 billion in increased costs to the state due to

The Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. Legislators are down to the wire on a $2.5 billion general obligation bond authorization, which they hope to pass Wednesday.Adobe Stock Ohio legislators plan to vote Wednesday on a resolution that would put a $2.5 billion general obligation bond measure on statewide ballots May 6. The measure, which would not

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson got his budget through the City Council on Monday, without a proposed property tax increase.Bloomberg News After multiple attempts, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson got his 2025 budget through the City Council, without the property tax increase he proposed in October. The final $17.3 billion budget narrowly passed Monday, 27-23, less than

<img src=”https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/20844932/thumbnail” width=”100%” alt=”chart visualization” /> Municipals were weaker Tuesday as the New York City Transitional Finance Agency, the last sizable new-issue of 2024, priced for institutions, while U.S. Treasuries were mixed and equities saw large losses ahead of the expected FOMC rate decision Wednesday. That weakness that began last week continued through Tuesday, as

The interior of a new New York City Subway car in 2023. This week the MTA board approved buying 435 new cars.Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority had a turbulent 2024. Now, although some uncertainties about its funding remain, the agency is readying its finances for 2025.  The state agency that

Election officials and volunteers process ballots in Utah County seat Provo in 2020. Voters this November approved measures to split the Alpine School District, which has more than $500 million of outstanding bonds, into three systems.Bloomberg News Utah’s largest public school district is preparing to split into three separate entities and divvy up its outstanding

Ed Oswald, a tax partner at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe in Washington D.C.Burwell Photography – John Burwe A report from the Congressional Budget Office outlining ways to reduce the budget deficit includes the possibility of eliminating new tax-exempt qualified activity bonds, a tactic that has failed in the past.  “In connection with the enactment of

“We’re almost there,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters of trying to negotiate a continuing resolution four days before government funding expires.Bloomberg News Congressional leaders were scrambling Tuesday to negotiate a short-term funding bill ahead of a looming Friday midnight government shutdown deadline. The continuing resolution, which was expected to be released Tuesday, would

“We think the FOMC will deliver a ‘hawkish cut,'” lowering the fed funds range to a range between 4.25% and 4.50%,” said BNP Paribas Chief U.S. Economist James Egelhof. “Chair [Jerome] Powell will likely use the press conference to open up optionality for a pause in further easing of undefined length.” The Federal Open Market

The Supreme Court last week heard oral arguments in Seven County Coalition v. Eagle County et al., which revolves around whether the Surface Transportation Board adequately considered potential environmental impacts of a proposed 85-mile, crude oil-transporting railroad in Utah.Bloomberg News U.S. Supreme Court justices last week appeared open to narrowing the scope of federal environmental