Bonds

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

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

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 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

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has approved amendments to Rule G-27 on dealer supervision that are designed to help dealers better adapt to changes brought on by remote work. That was approved during the MSRB’s quarterly board meeting, where the board welcomed Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler in attendance for his yearly visit,

Market participants are upbeat with predictions about an economy showing few signs of recession, a record-breaking stock market and a Federal Reserve that is expected to start ratcheting down interest rates.  Fresh economic data showing gross domestic product growing by an annual rate of 3.3% has bond issuers and ratings agency forecasters feeling bullish about

Municipals saw a more constructive secondary trading session Thursday and mutual funds reported the third consecutive week of inflows while U.S. Treasuries improved. Stocks continued to break records after another report of hotter economic data, which is leading more participants to pare back rate cut timing expectations. LSEG Lipper reported Thursday that investors added $210.6

Guam’s issuer rating was raised to investment grade by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited significant military construction and other federal government support. Moody’s upgraded Guam’s issuer rating, general obligation bonds, hotel occupancy tax bonds, and business privilege tax bonds to Baa3 from Ba1 and raised the COPs to Ba1 from Ba2. The outlook is stable.

Municipals were little changed Wednesday amid another busy primary session as U.S. Treasury yields rose throughout most of the curve and equities ended up. Despite municipal performance being in the red to start to 2023, municipal mutual funds continue to see inflows. The Investment Company Institute Wednesday reported more inflows into municipal bond mutual funds

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green highlighted $373 million of infrastructure and housing spending in his supplemental fiscal 2025 budget, calling it his administration’s top statewide priority during his State of the State speech. He also renewed a call for a climate change impact fee expected to collect $50 million that he said would have helped cover

Municipals were weaker in spots amid an active primary market that saw a billion-dollar-plus retail order from the Regents of the University of California price and Washington sell just shy of $1 billion general obligation bonds in the competitive market. U.S. Treasury yields rose and equities were mixed near the close. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio

An appeals court ruling against Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bondholders may hold positives for them, analysts say. The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit panel of three judges on Monday rejected GoldenTree Asset Management and Syncora Guarantee’s motion to lift the bankruptcy’s stay, which would have allowed the bondholders to appoint

Municipals were mixed Monday ahead of a heavy new-issue slate while U.S. Treasuries were better and equities saw smaller gains after last week’s record-breaking moves. Munis continue to struggle in 2024, with the asset class seeing negative returns of 1.01% so far this year. This is a turnaround “from the last quarter of 2023 in

A California plan to build a tunnel for freshwater to bypass the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta has run into a legal obstacle. A Sacramento County Superior Court judge has denied the California Department of Water Resources request to validate $16 billion in bonds to finance the Delta Conveyance Project. The Delta tunnel project would divert

Municipal bonds were slightly weaker Friday ahead of an $8.4 billion new-issue calendar and the last full week of January. U.S. Treasuries were mixed on the day while equities saw another session of gains as markets continue to digest the unlikelihood of any Federal Reserve rate cuts in the first quarter. Triple-A yields rose two

A trial over Missouri’s first-of-their-kind ESG investment rules will go ahead after a federal judge this month rejected the state’s motion to dismiss. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association sued the Show Me State last August over a pair of four-month-old anti-environmental, social and governance securities rules. The measures require advisors and broker-dealers to

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority staff came under fire from their own auditor general for misleading communications and a “breach of transparency” regarding cost overruns and delays on the $12.2 billion San Jose extension of the Bay Area Rapid Transit District. The project would extend BART, a commuter railway, through downtown San Jose into Santa