Month: September 2024

Recent signs of cooling inflation are paving the way for the Federal Reserve to cut rates when it meets next week, which is welcome news for Americans struggling to keep up with the elevated cost of living and sky-high interest charges. “Consumers should feel good about [an interest rate reduction] but it’s not going to
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Over a storied career, Mark Page has crafted more than his share of public finance innovations.  As deputy director and general counsel of New York City’s Office of Management and Budget, he led the first tobacco settlement securitization. As OMB director during former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration, Page helped form the World Trade Center Captive
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California’s massive size and tax structure has long given it municipal bond market protection against credit challenges like its well-known tax revenue volatility. The state government’s strengths, providing relatively liquid paper through high volume in a specialty state with high marginal tax rates, often outweigh its credit weaknesses for investors. But massive deficits during the
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A $70 million bond issue for a central Arizona town is the target of a lawsuit that claims the debt’s approval last month violated the state constitution.   Council members in Payson, a town of about 16,680 in Gila County, passed a resolution for the sale of the tax-exempt, fixed-rate “pledged revenue obligations” in a 6-1
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The NAFOA, founded as the Native American Finance Officers Association, announced that Cory M. Blankenship will take over the helm as the organization pushes the Tribal Tax & Investment Reform Act, which would free up tribal bond issuance.   “NAFOA has been working with Congresswoman Gwen Moore D-Wisc. and Congressman David Schweikert’s R-Ariz. offices to help
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The muni bond market grew in the second quarter as ownership by household and exchange-traded funds grew, while U.S. banks and insurers continued to reduce their holdings, the latest Federal Reserve data shows. The face amount of munis outstanding ticked up to $4.129 trillion, a 1.1% increase from the first quarter of this year and
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After just 20 months on the job, Federal Highway Administration head Shailen Bhatt has departed for the private sector. Bhatt announced Thursday that he’s taken a position at Montreal-based engineering services firm AtkinsRéalis. He joins as senior vice president and chief operating officer for the U.S., Latin America and Minerals & Metals. Current FHWA Deputy
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Municipals were lightly traded and little changed Friday ahead of a much smaller calendar and the Federal Open Market Committee meeting during which the first rate cut in four years is expected. U.S. Treasuries and equities closed out a volatile week in the black. Triple-A muni yields barely budged across the yield curve while USTs
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