Bonds

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

New York transparency advocates received some batches of sunshine with new initiatives from Gov. Kathy Hochul and state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. Hochul on Thursday announced transparency plans for more than 70 executive agencies and changes to the Freedom of Information Law process. It piggybacks on her signing a week ago of the MTA Open Data

A flood of Chicago paper planned over the next year should find an amiable investor reception after federal aid and rebounding revenues stabilized the city’s bond ratings and temporarily drowned out worries over how the city will structurally balance its books once the aid dries up. That’s the assessment offered by several members of the

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board said it will move forward with the confirmation process for the Plan of Adjustment without further mediation after confirming a just-passed Puerto Rico law will allow for the issuance of new bonds, a key to getting the island out of bankruptcy. The move paves the way for Puerto Rico to

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

Puerto Rico’s government passed a law it claims supports the proposed Plan of Adjustment in the commonwealth’s bankruptcy case. Gov. Pedro Pierluisi signed the bill into law Tuesday night. It is unclear if the Puerto Rico Oversight Board will accept the law and, if the board rejects it, what the board’s next step would be.

Municipals saw yields rise in spots along the curve, mostly inside of 10 years, as secondary trading picked up, and more bonds were out for the bid. U.S. Treasuries moved to lower yields and equities ended in the black. Triple-A benchmark yield curves saw one to two basis point cuts. After mostly ignoring the better

Minneapolis returns to the bond market Wednesday buoyed by a double dose of positive credit news for managing both the fiscal blows of COVID-19 pandemic and civil unrest fallout that followed George Floyd’s May 2020 killing by a city police officer. Fitch Ratings raised the outlook to positive from stable on its AA-plus rating ahead

Municipals faced pressure on the short end, with the one- and two-year yields rising two basis points, while U.S. Treasuries saw gains on bonds inside five-years and equities were in the black. For municipals, Monday’s session was more about readying for the primary and prepping for month-end positioning. Municipal-to-UST ratios showed the 5-year at 53%,

Most states in the Southeast saw an improving employment picture last month, newly released data show. Florida gained 84,500 jobs in September, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday, with the state’s unemployment rate falling under 5%. The state also gained 73,000 private-sector jobs, the 17th month in a row of private-sector job growth. In the past

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

The Internal Revenue Service has moved to mandatory electronic filing of its Form 8038-CP, its form for returning credit payments to issuers of qualified bonds. That and a number of other developments were announced during the IRS update as part of the Government Finance Officers Association’s 3rd annual MiniMuni conference. “The IRS is moving to

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s $4.4 billion 2022 bonding package heads to the City Council for a vote next week after surviving a backlash over the lack of ward-by-ward specifics about how the city would spend $660 million of recovery plan borrowing. The bonding package, along with a $1.7 billion property tax levy that’s up $76.5

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

Los Angeles received an improved outlook from Fitch Ratings ahead of plans to issue bonds to build housing for people living on the streets. Fitch revised its outlook on the city’s debt to stable from negative ahead of the $276.7 million competitive deal slated for Wednesday that pays for housing and refunds existing debt. The

Massachusetts officials are confident they’re getting it right this time. Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration has repivoted on its overhaul of a worn-down, swerving viaduct on the Massachusetts Turnpike in Boston’s Allston neighborhood, and is proposing to route that stretch of Interstate 90 called “the throat” at ground level along the Charles River. The cost estimate

The Federal Reserve will ban top officials from buying individual stocks and bonds as well as limit active trading after an embarrassing scandal that led two officials to resign and clouded Chair Jerome Powell’s path to renomination. “These tough new rules raise the bar high in order to assure the public we serve that all

Muncie, Indiana’s weak investment grade rating survived a S&P Global Ratings review of several debt restructurings. S&P placed the city’s BBB-minus general obligation credit and several other ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications in August as it reviewed the motives and impact of the restructurings and resolved the action this week. “We removed the ratings

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

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