Bonds

Municipals were little changed Wednesday, being cut a basis point or two in spots to close out August, while U.S. Treasuries sold off ten years and out and equities ended in the red. “The tone heading into month end remains mostly unchanged from the post-rate hike/post-Jackson Hole dialogue, with conflicting metrics holding back more momentum

The Federal Reserve needs to raise its benchmark rate above 4% by early next year and leave it there for some time to help cool inflation, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester reiterated on Wednesday, making it clear she doesn’t expect the central bank to cut rates in 2023. “My current view is that it will

Municipals were steady to weaker in spots Tuesday, while U.S. Treasuries were mixed and equities ended down. The two- and three-year muni-UST ratios are around 65% to 67%. The five-year was at 71%, the 10-year at 83% and the 30-year at 102%, according to Refinitiv MMD’s 3 p.m. read. ICE Data Services had the five

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti’s mandate to increase access of women-owned and minority-owned businesses to city contracts will not impact how the debt management team handles underwriter, financial advisory or bond counsel pools. Garcetti signed Executive Directive 35 Thursday, which he says lays the foundation “for increased access to the City of Los Angeles’ procurement process

Major pension legislation was cited as Vermont’s rating outlook was raised to stable from negative by S&P Global Ratings. In a report that also affirmed the state’s AA-plus general obligation bond rating, the rating agency said Vermont currently ranked sixth highest in the nation for unfunded retiree health care benefits and eighth highest for unfunded

Congress hasn’t gotten around to enacting a PAYGO waiver for the American Rescue Plan, which is causing concern from a coalition of issuer groups. The coalition is worried that if PAYGO isn’t waived before the end of the year, direct subsidy payments owed to them by the U.S. Treasury could be denied. The types of

Municipals were steady Friday, while U.S. Treasuries were mixed and equities sold off in the aftermath of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s promise the Fed will keep raising interest rates to combat inflation. In light of the market’s concern over Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole, BofA strategists Yingchen Li and Ian Rogow “continue to view the Fed’s hawkishness as a better

UBS voluntarily resigned as a co-manager from a Texas city bond issue that priced this week in the wake of the company’s placement on the state comptroller’s list of fossil fuel industry boycotters. Kerrville, Texas, Finance Director Julie Behrens confirmed on Friday that UBS had “voluntarily withdrawn” from the city’s $44.4 million general obligation bond

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority is running out of money as federal aid declines and many riders have not returned to the mass transit system in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. By the end of fiscal 2024, the MTA estimates federal pandemic relief funds will be exhausted and projects budget gaps of up

U.S. Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority CEO Andrew Smith said he expects a court will order WAPA to repay employee pension contributions over time despite the pension organization’s suit demanding immediate repayment. The repayment plan would be to pay off the $2.2 million in past due employee contributions to the system that WAPA owes.

Former Stifel banker James Cervantes was appointed chair of the California Housing Finance Agency’s board of directors by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Cervantes, who joined the board earlier this year, retired from Stifel in October 2020. He was a Stifel California managing director and, for a time, ran Stone & Youngberg, acquired by Stifel in 2011.

Federal authorities Thursday gave final environmental approval to Maryland’s plan to add four toll lanes to the Capital Beltway. Gov. Larry Hogan’s signature project, which he hopes to deliver as a public private partnership, can now move toward finalizing a 50-year contract with Accelerate Maryland Partners, a consortium that’s led by Australian firms Transurban and

Municipals were mixed Thursday as the market took a breather ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech, while U.S. Treasuries improved five years and out and equities ended in the black. Outflows from municipal bond mutual funds intensified as investors pulled $1.180 billion out of funds in the latest week, versus the $229.263

Regulatory proposals are driving more broker-dealer firms, particularly minority-owned ones, to join national lobbying efforts. Mike Nicholas, the chief executive officer of Bond Dealers of America, said Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board proposals have contributed to more interest in BDA from firms who weren’t previously members, and more engagement from existing

Long-end munis were much weaker Wednesday while a large new-issue from the New York City Transitional Finance Authority took focus in the primary. U.S. Treasuries were saw losses along the curve and equities made gains ahead of the Jackson Hole event that starts Thursday. Triple-A municipal yields rose two to 10 basis points with the

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said U.S. inflation is very high and the central bank must act to bring it back under control. “By many, many measures we are at maximum employment, and we are at very high inflation. So, this is a completely unbalanced situation, which means to me it’s very

Municipals were a touch weaker Tuesday, but the focus was on a large new-issue day with airport revenue bonds from Minneapolis-St. Paul and transportation revenue bonds from Delaware leading the calendar. Treasuries saw smaller losses out longer with the 10-year closing above 3% again while equities ended in the red as economic data disappointed. Triple-A

The tone for munis was mixed Monday as they mostly ignored broader weakness in U.S. Treasuries while equities sold off as the markets continue to weigh what’s to come from Federal Reserve officials later this week in Jackson Hole. Triple-A yields rose one to three basis points, depending on the curve, while U.S. Treasuries saw

Chicago-owned O’Hare International Airport heads into the market next week with $1.77 billion of across-the-board A-plus-rated paper after two upgrades. The city will sell the bonds in four series offering a mix of paper subject to the alternative minimum tax and non-AMT with $1.3 billion being raised for projects and the remainder refunding outstanding debt

S&P Global Ratings Friday revised its outlook to positive from stable on New Jersey general obligation bonds. The rating agency highlighted the state government’s recent payments to its underfunded state pension system. “The outlook revision follows the second consecutive year the state has budgeted the full annual actuarially determined contribution to its retirement systems,” S&P

Municipals closed out the week with more weakness with yields rising up to 10 basis points on the short end of the yield curve, following U.S. Treasuries to higher yields while equities ended down. The one-year triple-A benchmark saw smaller cuts with yields rising up to four basis points, depending on the scale, while two-,