Bonds

Municipal bonds were firm Friday as the market prepares for a healthy dose of new-issue supply while the Federal Reserve gets ready to decide the course of monetary policy in the face of rising inflation. Yields on top-quality munis were flat on the AAA scales Friday; on the week, muni yields were as much as

Hot Springs National Park celebrates its centennial this year with visitors expected to arrive in record numbers, a projection with significant implications for the tax revenue of the “Spa City” that shares the park’s name. Hot Springs, Arkansas, known colloquially as “Spa City,” overlaps the national park with no obvious boundaries between the two. On

The nine justices of the Supreme Court are scheduled to huddle behind closed doors June 24 to decide whether a potentially landmark case involving the taxation of telework will be placed on their docket for the fall term. The Biden administration last month asked the justices to not take this case involving temporary taxation of

The U.S. Department of Transportation and California finalized settlement negotiations last week that will restore nearly a billion of federal funding to the state’s high-speed rail project. The settlement agreement that resolves litigation over the Federal Railroad Administration’s termination of the fiscal year 2010 cooperative agreement with California’s High-Speed Rail Authority involved intensive negotiations over

PNC Financial Services Group’s footprint in the public finance space will grow coast-to-coast after its acquisition of BBVA USA closed in early June, expanding its business with state and local governments. Pittsburgh-based PNC completed its acquisition of Birmingham, Alabama-headquartered BBVA USA Bancshares, Inc., including its U.S. banking subsidiary BBVA USA, on June 1, making it

With the race for New York mayor riveted on public safety, candidates for comptroller got a chance to discuss the city’s finances in their first televised debate. That didn’t stop the top eight Democratic hopefuls from extending beyond financial nuts-and-bolts on Thursday’s NY1 get-together, in advance of the June 22 primary. Scott Stringer, who has

Municipals were little changed Monday as the market awaits the larger new-issue calendar and participants position themselves ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting. After a week of U.S. Treasury strength, rates rose Monday bringing the 10-year back to 1.50% after hitting 1.43% Thursday, a three-month low. Municipals did not follow and few participants anticipate any

California voters rejected a school bond measure for the first time in 30 years in March 2020 and state Sen. Steven Glazer, D-Orinda, wants a do-over. His Senate Bill 22, the Public Preschool, K-12 and College Health and Safety Bond Act, passed the Senate Thursday on a 31-5 vote. If the State Assembly approves it,

Subway safety in New York took on a new meaning when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority acknowledged a cyber intrusion, which set off loud alarm bells about the rising threat of system hacks. The MTA is one of the largest municipal issuers and reports linked China’s government to the episode. Despite MTA officials’ assurances of quick

Municipal bonds strengthened on the long end Friday after the latest employment report showed continued job growth and buoyed equities and Treasuries. The Labor Department said nonfarm payrolls rose 559,000 in May as the jobless rate fell to 5.8% from 6.1%. The numbers showed slow but steady strength in the labor market, but came in

A Puerto Rico court rejected a motion from several bond underwriters to dismiss a bond insurer suit against them for misrepresentations in their Official Statements. Senior Judge Ladi Buono de Jesús issued the decision Wednesday from her position in the Court of First Instance in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Bond insurers National Public Finance Guarantee

The California state treasurer wants Congress to triple the federal cap on tax-exempt private activity bonds that are used for high-speed rail projects and other surface transportation to $45 billion. California Treasurer Fiona Ma emphasized in a letter Monday to key House and Senate Democrats and Republicans the importance of including private investment in the

Investment manager MFS has launched a new intermediate tax-exempt fund aimed at giving clients more yield and duration opportunities. The new Municipal Intermediate Fund, which pursues total return with an emphasis on income exempt from federal income tax, aims to outperform the Bloomberg Barclays Municipal 1‐15 Year Index, the firm said. Periodic review of its

A $5.3 billion transportation bill awaiting Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’s signature will not require voter approval after Republican demands for a referendum were thwarted. Senate Bill 21-260, which won final passage in the state House of Representatives last month, provides $5.3 billion over a decade for highways, bridges and infrastructure for future electric vehicles. The

Munis were quiet Monday along with U.S. Treasuries as participants await the larger new-issue week that begins pricing Tuesday led by competitive deals from gilt-edged Georgia and the state of Wisconsin. Flat with little activity is how municipals started the week as ratios continued to be close to or at historic levels due to the

A proposed mandate to shutter the $5 billion Prairie State coal energy campus and a Springfield, Illinois’ plant by 2035 would hit local ratepayers with the double burden of funding new energy sources while still paying down project bonds, a bipartisan group of local lawmakers warn. Gov. J.B. Pritzker backs a state mandate to shut

President Biden said Monday his Justice Department will defend current law that denies Supplemental Security Income benefits to Puerto Rico residents but he called on congress to amend the Social Security Act to extend those benefits. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled in April 2020 that the prevailing federal practice of

The Chicago Transit Authority heads into the market next week to refund $127 million of federal grant anticipation-backed bonds with positive rating news in tow. S&P Global Ratings lifted its outlook to positive from stable on a portion of the CTA’s grant-backed bonds being refunded, citing improving coverage ratios. S&P also moved the outlook to

There’s so much spare cash sloshing around U.S. funding markets that investors are choosing to park almost half a trillion dollars at the central bank — earning absolutely nothing. Usage of the Federal Reserve’s reverse repo facility — a mechanism that’s part of the central bank’s arsenal for helping to steer short-term interest rates —

Municipals were a touch firmer Friday with a few stronger high-grade prints clearing at levels to move triple-A benchmarks a basis point better while U.S. Treasuries were also a basis point or two lower ahead of what will be a low-issuance week to start the summer. All triple-A benchmark 10-year yields are now below 1%,

San Diego’s regional transportation planning agency introduced a $160 billion draft regional plan that hinges on high-density housing development along transit lines. The 30-year plan drafted by the 21-member board of the San Diego Association of Governments has the support of environmental and labor groups though it faces opposition from some Republicans and anti-tax groups.

The Biden administration is proposing the authorization of $50 billion in direct-pay qualified School Infrastructure Bonds and doubling the limit on tax-exempt private activity bonds for transportation infrastructure to $30 billion. The Treasury’s so-called Green Book of proposed changes to tax law released Friday also calls for an enhancement of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit

Proposed legislation to move Chicago Public Schools to a fully-elected, 21-member school board without any city role raises “dangerous” financial questions, Chicago Civic Federation President Laurence Msall warned lawmakers. Among the key questions: will the city government continue to transfer money to a school district it no longer controls? CPS governance is in the crosshairs

The Federal Reserve’s prestigious annual Jackson Hole policy symposium will be held in person this year, albeit in a modified form, according to a statement Thursday from hosts the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. The yearly retreat of the world’s top central bankers and economists went virtual in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic,

Municipals saw one to three basis point bumps to benchmark yield curves while new issues repriced by as much as 10 basis points lower into a stronger, issuer-friendly market, as the 10-year fell below 1% on most scales. The Investment Company Institute reported $1.27 billion of inflows into municipal bond mutual funds, marking the 11th

Despite recent large monthly gains, Fitch Ratings said it will take the U.S. job market another 18 months to create the 7 million jobs needed to recover from the economic shocks wrought by the pandemic. Fitch doesn’t expect the U.S. labor market to return to full employment, which it estimates at 4.3%, until the fourth

U.S. central bank officials may be able to begin discussing the appropriate timing of scaling back their bond-buying program at upcoming policy meetings, Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida said. “It may well be” that “in upcoming meetings, we’ll be at the point where we can begin discuss scaling back the pace of asset purchases,”

Municipals improved Tuesday on the backs of a strong primary led by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s $788 million green bonds and gilt-edged Loudoun County, Virginia, and the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank, which sold competitively with tight spreads. Triple-A municipal benchmark yield curves were bumped one to two basis points, lagging a four basis

The tide has turned for some Illinois public universities’ already bruised ratings as COVID-19 pressures on their balance sheet and state funding levels ease. S&P Global Ratings on Friday upgraded the University of Illinois, the state’s flagship, by two notches noting its resilient balance sheet independent of state help and analysts revised the outlook on

Raphael Bostic, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta president, says he hears frequent speculation that he could be nominated to lead the central bank. “I hear about it all the time,” Bostic said, according to an Axios account of the outlet’s interview on Axios on HBO. President Joe Biden hasn’t indicated who he will name, but