Bonds

An attorney for a Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bondholders group raised concerns Wednesday about an Oversight Board mailing to bondholders asking them to support its plan of adjustment, which would result in them getting a better deal than non-supporting bondholders. PREPA Ad Hoc Group attorney Eric Brunstad Jr. said at Wednesday’s Puerto Rico omnibus

The abrupt ouster of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the battle for his former position now underway carry little direct or immediate effect on the municipal market, but participants agree that the repercussions tilt negative for everyone from issuers to investors and bankers. With the ink barely dry on Saturday’s continuing resolution to keep the

Munis were weaker Tuesday, but outperformed a U.S. Treasury selloff. Equities sold off as well. Triple-A yields rose anywhere from two to eight basis points while UST saw yields rise by as much as 13 basis points out long. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Tuesday was at 72%, the three-year was at 72%, the five-year at

The agency that manages Chicago’s convention center campus wades into the market this week with a deal that continues its trend of pushing off looming bond payments to manage a persistent mismatch between its revenues and its debt service schedule. The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority of Illinois is set to price $56.2 million of

A group of Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bondholders opposed to the Oversight Board’s proposed plan of adjustment identified its members Wednesday. The new faction, called the PREPA Ad Hoc Group, holds $2.1 billion in uninsured PREPA bonds and hundreds of millions of dollars more in insured bonds. $8.5 billion of PREPA bonds were outstanding

Many muni market thought leaders were caught off guard by the weekend congressional action that averted a government shutdown by way of enlisting help from House Democrats. “I was surprised,” said Brett Bolton,  V.P., federal legislative and regulatory policy, Bond Dealers of America. “Not surprised that the Speaker took the measure he took, but waiting to

Spartanburg, South Carolina, will soon be home to another city’s minor league baseball team with the help of the city’s largest-ever economic development package. Spartanburg’s city council approved a $425 million public-private partnership development deal on Tuesday, anchored on a new 3,500-seat minor league baseball stadium officials said will help revitalize the city’s downtown area.

After selling off for a week and a half, munis ended Friday’s session firmer, but September losses moved the asset class into the red for the year, returning -1.79%. “September and to a lesser degree October have not been kind to municipal investors in recent history, with average returns of -5.7% and -1.8%, respectively, going

September municipal bond issuance rose slightly year-over-year, becoming the first month of 2023 to see supply increase from 2022 levels, as several billion-dollar deals were priced and a general market acceptance of the Fed’s ‘higher for longer’ stance took hold. Led by tax-exempt, new-money deals, September’s total volume ticked up 1.2% to $27.585 billion in

California Democratic leaders are asking the state Supreme Court to remove a business-backed measure from the November ballot that would require voter approval for any increase in state or local taxes. Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins, D-San Diego and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, filed an emergency petition with the state Supreme Court Tuesday

A pair of Texas Congressmen are urging the Federal Railroad Administration to reject joint grant applications by Amtrak and railroad company Texas Central to build high-speed rail between Dallas and Houston. Republicans Rep. Jake Ellzey and Rep. Michael McCaul sent a Sept. 28 letter to the FRA outlining their opposition to the controversial project. The

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has requested comment on draft amendments to Rule G-12 on uniform practice, in efforts to codify, retire and reorganize 40 pieces of interpretive guidance related to interdealer confirmations. The move will aid the MSRB in its goal of retiring approximately 20% of its body of interpretive guidance, much of which

Massachusetts’ House of Representatives passed a hotly debated series of tax cuts this week. Following months of legislative back-and-forth on the package’s provisions, state representatives voted 55-1 Wednesday to pass a series of tax cuts expected to provide $561 billion in breaks across its first year. The bill has seen revision after revision since Gov.

As the government slouches toward a shutdown this weekend, municipal market participants expect short-term fallout to be relatively minor but are keeping a cautious eye on unexpected pitfalls. A shutdown could disrupt federal infrastructure projects, halt rulemaking on new financing tools, freeze federal subsidies to direct-pay debt and generally cause uncertainty for borrowers and investors

After selling off late last week and at the start of the week, the municipal market continued to weaken but with smaller cuts to AAA scales amid an active primary market. U.S. Treasury yields rose, and equities ended mixed. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Wednesday was at 70%, the three-year was at 70%, the five-year at

A court decision on Monday cleared the way for the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority to head to the municipal market with $500 million of bonds to start financing a controversial expansion program. The Oklahoma Supreme Court, which validated the bonds Aug. 1 in a 6-3 decision, denied a petition for a rehearing requested by property owners

Fitch Ratings revised to positive from stable the outlook on $32 million of refunding revenue bonds associated with the construction of Atlanta’s city courthouse as revenue streams continue a post-pandemic recovery. The outlook change applies to $32 million of tax-exempt certificates of participation issued by the Georgia Municipal Authority in 2016 to refund a 2002

Arizona’s Water Infrastructure Finance Authority is “strongly considering” public financing as it seeks ideas on how the drought-prone state could expand its water supply with the help of a $1 billion fund, the agency’s head said. WIFA Director Chuck Podolak told reporters Friday that bonds are “on the table” in conjunction with the long-term water

Municipal bond prices weakened again Monday as the market looked ahead to a $6.3 billion slate of sales led by two big deals from issuers in Texas and Florida. Municipals continued the selloff seen last week, with yields rising Monday by as many as 12 basis points. Treasury yields also rose while stock prices ended

Former longtime Citi head of municipal strategy Vikram Rai has landed at Wells Fargo, where will join the municipal credit strategy team as senior strategist. The firm confirmed that Rai joined Wells on Monday. He will report to Matt Rosenberg and Chris Lee, co-heads of sales and trading. Longtime head of municipal strategy at Citi

S&P Global Ratings said Friday it revised Pennsylvania’s credit outlook to positive from stable. At the same time, S&P affirmed its A-plus long-term rating on the state’s $10.7 billion of outstanding general obligation bonds. S&P said the outlook reflects “our view that Pennsylvania has continued to make progress toward structural budgetary balance, with positive operating