Bonds

The Kentucky Office of the State Budget Director reported January’s general fund receipts increased to $1.3 billion, up 4.4% from the same time last year. Last month’s sales tax receipts hit a record high at $586.2 million. Large increases also occurred due to a new section of the individual income tax, the pass-through entity tax,

Munis were steady to a touch firmer in spots and new-issues fared well in the primary, while U.S. Treasury yields fell and equities ended the trading session up as markets further digested inflation data and its effects on future Fed moves. Triple-A yields fell a basis point or two, depending on the curve, while USTs

Nearly half of America’s private colleges and universities reported negative operating margins in fiscal year 2023, and the situation was even worse in the Midwest, according to preliminary data compiled by Merritt Research Services. Within the Midwest region, roughly 50% of colleges in the east north central states had negative operating margins, while 67% of

The number of distressed charter schools rose to a record in the beginning of 2024 as the sector struggles with the end of pandemic assistance and rising costs. So far this year, five charter schools have become impaired, meaning a borrower has defaulted on their debt, broken a covenant or used some emergency means to

The days of booming job growth in Texas may be ebbing, according to the Dallas Federal Reserve, which expects the state to return to more normal growth of 2% this year. In their economic outlook for the Lone Star State released Friday, Dallas Fed economists projected the addition of 283,500 jobs in 2024, following gains

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bankruptcy proceedings will not be paused despite a request from bond parties, U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain said Monday. Though the First Circuit Court of Appeals is considering how bond parties’ liens on PREPA’s revenues should be treated in the bankruptcy, Swain said regardless of that court’s

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro wants to tap the commonwealth’s surplus revenues for his wide-ranging budget agenda. The Democrat proposed sweeping changes to Pennsylvania’s K-12 and higher education systems and $500 million of borrowing to fund his new economic development plan in his budget address on Tuesday.  The budget proposal was $48.34 billion, an increase of

The Internal Revenue Service has informed the Port of Port Arthur Navigation District of Jefferson County, Texas that the tax-exempt status of a 2017 $55 million bond issuance remains unresolved, months after the district initially disclosed that the IRS was casting doubt on the tax-exempt status of the bonds. The notice came via a notice on

The honeymoon phase for environmental, social and governance considerations in the municipal market is beginning to wane, giving way to a more thorough and dynamic vision for how issuers and market participants can deal with the hotly-politicized concpept. ESG was building steam before the pandemic, but has now become so overly-politicized that banks, underwriters and

Employee-owned international broker-dealer Baird has launched a California Public Finance group and hired veteran banker John Baracy as a managing director to run it and be the California K-12 market lead. “It’s been a market we wanted to expand in just given the size of the California economy,” said Brian Brewer, Baird’s director of public

The direction of interest rates will have the greatest impact on the municipal bond market this year, according to a vote taken at The Bond Buyer’s 2024 National Outlook Conference in Manhattan on Thursday. Almost three quarters of respondents, 72%, said interest rates would have the most significant effect on the public finance industry in

Municipals ended the week quieter than they began it with a mostly steady to firmer tone in spots Friday, outperforming U.S. Treasuries, which saw small losses. Equities were mixed at the close. Tax-exempt yields have moved higher with Treasuries, but outperformed on the whole, while municipal to UST ratios have been “largely moving sideways” in

A four-day atmospheric river-fueled storm that walloped California caused estimated damages of up to $11 billion and put the state’s aging infrastructure to the test. The preliminary damage estimate of up to $11 billion by AccuWeather accounts for damage to homes, businesses, infrastructure, facilities, roadways and vehicles, as well as over 900,000 reported power outages

Ex-IFS Securities trader Keith Wakefield committed securities and wire fraud when, as the broker-dealer’s head of fixed income, the Chicago resident made forbidden speculative trades and embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars over a two-year period, an Illinois federal court jury found this week. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of

The North Carolina Local Government Commission on Tuesday approved the Mecklenburg County and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools request for a $2.5 billion bond package. It was the largest amount of tax-exempt financing ever OK’d by the commission. Separately, State Treasurer Dale Folwell noted that the state is on the way to reaching its goal of paying down

An active primary market was the focus Wednesday with the New York City TFA pricing for institutions with small changes to yields from its Tuesday retail offering, Massachusetts upsizing its GO refunding deal and Wisconsin selling green bonds in the competitive market. Triple-A muni yield curves were mostly little changed to a basis point of

A struggling Iowa hospital’s sale to its primary competitor through a bankruptcy proceeding has closed. In a case filing by Iowa City-based Mercy Hospital, the notice of sale closing made official the hospital’s sale to the University of Iowa through the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process. Mercy filed for bankruptcy in August, thwarting a push by

The focus shifted fully into the primary market Tuesday as the secondary took a backseat to large new-issues pricing in both negotiated and competitive markets while U.S. Treasuries halted its two-day sell off to see gains on the day. Equities ended mixed. Munis were little changed Tuesday, as UST yields fell six to nine basis

Municipals sold off Monday following U.S. Treasuries, which saw another session of large losses, as investors digested the likelihood of later and fewer Federal Reserve rate cuts. . Equities ended down. Triple-A muni yields rose 10 to 13 basis points, with the largest losses on the short end, while USTs saw yields rise 11 to14

Guam’s latest proposed budget was hailed by analysts who said its approach should be copied by other U.S. territories. Gov. Lourdes Leon Guerrero proposed a 5.9% bigger general fund budget for fiscal 2025 days after Moody’s Investors Service raised the territory’s general obligation bonds to investment grade (Baa3) from speculative grade (Ba1); the first time