Bonds

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board plans to request comment on its Rule G-27 related to dealer supervision in the next month. That and a number of other issues were discussed during the MSRB’s quarterly board meeting this week. “As part of our commitment to prudent and practical regulation, we are focused on a retrospective review
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Puerto Rico’s leaders welcomed Pres. Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Act budget proposal for its inclusion of funding for three programs that would benefit the island. As it stood on Friday, Biden’s $1.85 trillion spending and taxing proposal would introduce the Supplemental Security Income program to provide $1 billion to island residents, would increase the
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Municipal bonds were lightly traded and benchmark yields steady to end October while U.S. Treasuries bounced throughout the trading session, ending stronger near the close, and market participants are pointing to near-term volatility for both asset classes going into November. In the near-term, the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee meeting should contain “an intense discussion
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Municipals were steady but with a firmer bent as new issues were the focus even as volatility in U.S. Treasuries returned and yields swung higher, moving the 20-year bond above the 30-year. Triple-A benchmark yields fell one to two basis points, with the larger moves outside 10 years. Municipal-to-UST ratios fell as a result, with
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The Illinois Municipal Electric Agency won an upgrade from Fitch Ratings due to positive fiscal operating trends that analysts don’t believe will suffer from the power agency’s ownership stake in the Prairie State coal facility that faces new state-imposed clean energy mandates. Fitch raised IMEA’s issuer default rating and credit on $831 million of power
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Municipals were stronger on the backs of a U.S. Treasury rally but underperformed the movements there, pushing ratios on the 10-year near 80% and the 30-year close to 90%. Triple-A benchmark scales were bumped two to three basis points on bonds outside nine-years while the 10-year UST fell seven basis points and the 30-year fell
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It appears the Puerto Rico Plan of Adjustment will collapse as the Senate lacked the votes to approve a bill to back the plan and missed the Oversight Board’s deadline for such action. “It is a stunning development,” CreditSights Senior Municipals Analyst John Ceffalio said. “It had seemed the legislature had gotten all of its
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In oral argument before a federal appeals court, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association contended that a Securities and Exchange Commission temporary exemption for municipal advisors during the height of the pandemic, was “arbitrary and capricious and unsupported by substantial evidence.” Making SIFMA’s case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
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Municipals ended Friday steady after a week of increased selling pressure that moved yields and ratios higher. Triple-A benchmark yields were left unchanged across the curve. U.S. Treasuries pared back overnight trading losses to end the week better. Barclays strategists Mikhail Foux, Clare Pickering and Mayur Patel said as Treasury yields have moved higher over
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Growing selling pressure caught up to the municipal secondary market, pushing yields higher by as much as five basis points on bonds five years and out while the five-year U.S. Treasury crossed 1.20% and the taxable market was being tested again by investor concerns about inflation. Refinitiv Lipper reported inflows into municipal bond funds totaled
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Environmental, social and governance factors are becoming increasingly important to municipal securities investors, and that trend may be transforming the information considered material for disclosure purposes, Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board CEO Mark Kim said Wednesday. “Investors and other market participants are increasingly integrating ESG factors into their investment decisions and credit analysis,” Kim said. Kim’s
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Municipal benchmark yield curves were little changed on average trading Wednesday as the primary was the focus while the Investment Company Institute reported another week of inflows into municipal bond mutual funds. There was some uncertainty and a tentative mood hanging over the market, but traders said the large deals got done. Bids-wanted lists have
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Municipals were softer with small cuts to benchmarks on Tuesday as the focus was mostly on the sizable new-issue calendar and deals were repriced to lower yields. Spreads have been widening, but secondary trading was on the light side and triple-A benchmarks were cut by only a basis point in spots even as U.S. Treasury
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Passing a bipartisan infrastructure bill by month end without also reaching a deal on a reconciliation measure may endanger key municipal market priorities. “Now absolutely is the time,” said Emily Brock, director of the GFOA’s Federal Liaison Center. If lawmakers do not meet the Halloween deadline to pass both the bipartisan infrastructure framework, or BIF,
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Several Midwest-based healthcare borrowers are teeing up a range of taxable, green and acquisition financing deals as reports highlight the COVID-19 pandemic’s lingering effects, creating new obstacles to margin recovery. This week, OhioHealth Corp. will price $600 million of taxable bonds with a corporate CUSIP and the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics will sell
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Municipals were a touch weaker 10 years and in on thin trading while U.S. Treasuries pared back earlier losses the curve flattening continued. Triple-A benchmarks saw one basis point cuts in spots inside 10-years while the five-year U.S. Treasury hit a high of 1.154% and the 30-year pared back earlier losses to land at 2.018%.
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Assured Guaranty accounted for a total of $17.31 billion in 820 deals for a 52.1% market share in the first three quarters of 2021, up from the $13.77 billion in 703 deals for a 48.9% market share over the same period as the year before. “Assured Guaranty continued to lead the municipal bond insurance industry
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The Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking applicants to head the office of Municipal Securities, a key post responsible for coordinating the SEC’s muni regulatory activities. An Oct. 8 posting on the USAJOBS website that serves as the portal for federal government employment lists the position that is currently held by Rebecca Olsen, who has
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