Bonds

While pursuing his doctorate in economics at Columbia University, Oliver Giesecke came across several challenges as he was researching and collecting data on the muni market. Either it wasn’t available or it was incomplete or at times, misleading. In an effort to provide more and clearer data on certain attributes of the muni market, Giesecke,

Moody’s Investors Service affirmed its negative outlook on mass transit, highlighting Bay Area Rapid Transit as an example, even after the San Francisco rapid transit system announced it had received state funding. BART, a San Francisco Bay Area rapid transit system, announced on Wednesday that it would receive $352 million from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission

The Biden administration’s Build America Bureau expects to close on $19.5 billion worth of transportation infrastructure projects in the next 18 months, executive director Morteza Farajian said Tuesday at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials annual meeting in Indianapolis. “There’s a huge increase in the number of projects that we have in

While New York City’s $110.5 billion fiscal 2024 budget remains balanced, the costs associated with dealing with the influx of migrants will soar over the next several fiscal years, according to the November financial plan update released Thursday. So far, the city has already spent $1.45 billion in fiscal 2023 to provide food, shelter and

Municipals were firmer Thursday as a billion-plus dollar deal from the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority priced in the primary market and outflows continued. U.S. Treasury yields fell and equities ended down. Triple-A yields fell one to five basis points, depending on the scale, while UST were better by six to 10. The two-year

The Senate has passed a continuing resolution measure 87-11 that will keep the lights on until Jan. 19 and Feb. 2, avoiding a government shutdown this year, but increasing the stakes significantly for further funding discussions after the holiday season. The measure will give Congress room to breathe as it deals with pressing concerns of

Municipals were mostly steady Wednesday as investors worked through more new-issue paper in the primary while U.S. Treasuries lost ground after Tuesday’s rally. Equities were mixed near the close. The dust settled Wednesday following Tuesday’s rally, as municipals were flat, according to a New York trader.  “Everyone is reevaluating and taking a breather after the

The company responsible for meeting obligations on $250 million of green bonds issued in Alabama in 2022 may not be able to do so by December, it said in a recent disclosure filing. The Industrial Development Authority of Sumter County issued the exempt facilities revenue bonds to bankroll a production plant for wood pellet maker

Municipals were firmer across the curve, but underperformed a U.S. Treasury rally after a lower consumer price index report indicated the Federal Reserve may soon be done hiking rates. Equities also rallied. “The Fed looks smart for effectively ending its tightening cycle as inflation continues to slow,” said Bryce Doty, senior vice president and senior

A tranche of economic development revenue refinancing bonds issued by the Arkansas Development Finance Authority has been found to be taxable by the Internal Revenue Service. The ruling affects $5.43 million of paper issued by the ADFA in 2016.   The issuer has received notice from the IRS via form 5701-B that includes a proposed adverse determination,

Moody’s Investors Service revised its rating outlook for the Aaa-rated District of Columbia to negative Monday, matching its Friday action on the United States government. At the same time, the rating agency affirmed the Aaa issuer ratings and stable outlooks of Florida, Maryland and Virginia. The actions follow Friday’s outlook revision on the United States

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined Knoxville, Tennessee-based Home Financial Services $50,000 for its failure to disclose execution times, mark-ups, mark-downs and related supervisory failures on customer confirmations for thousands of municipal securities transactions. Without admitting or denying the findings, Home Financial has consented to the fine and a censure. The action arose from

Municipals were little changed to close out a busy week in both the primary and secondary, while U.S. Treasury yields fell out long and equities rallied. “Although this round of muni market bullish reversal was pulled off one week later than Treasuries’, the rally progressed better,” said BofA strategists. The 10-year UST reached its peak

Puerto Rico’s upcoming gubernatorial and legislative elections may lead to a new governor but aren’t likely to change local policy significantly, observers say. At this stage, the main drama seems to be in the New Progressive Party governor’s primary, which sees Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón running against Gov. Pedro Pierluisi. As Resident

Anyone who thinks they understand what is happening in the economy — and what will happen — should think some more. The post-pandemic state of the economy is somewhat of a mystery, but a mystery worth exploring. Unemployment is a low 3.9%. Inflation is somewhere between 3.5% and 4.2% depending on which index is used.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has extended the suspension of his state’s gasoline tax for another month amid sustained high fuel costs. Kemp cited “ongoing economic hardships caused by rampant inflation” Wednesday when he signed an executive order foregoing Georgia’s 31.2 cents-per-gallon tax on gas and 35 cents-per-gallon tax on diesel for another month through Nov.

As the timeline for implementing the Financial Data Transparency Act grows shorter, the Securities and Exchange Commission is teaming up with other federal regulators in an attempt to allay fears about implementation.   “There’s no new disclosure requirements, standards or timelines, it’s just about structured data,” said Dave Sanchez, director of the SEC’s Office of Municipal

Municipals were mixed Thursday, largely sitting out another swing to higher yields in U.S. Treasuries after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank would not hesitate to hike interest rates further if needed. Equities sold off. Triple-A yields barely budged while USTs saw yields rise by 10 to 14 basis points following a

Voters in Maine rejected a much-debated proposal to replace the state’s two largest power providers with a public utility company in Tuesday’s election. Question 3 on the ballot, which asked voters to approve the state takeover of for-profit power providers Versant and Central Maine Power Company and the creation of a non-profit, publicly owned utility

Tender option bond volume is growing and is expected to reach a 10-year high this year, according to Municipal Market Analytics. About $17 billion of TOBs have been issued so far in 2023, which is on pace to eclipse last year’s $17.6 billion, MMA said. The outstanding TOB market is at about $50 billion from

In a troubled world, booming demand for American military weaponry has left the country in need of billions of dollars more in armaments than it can currently produce.  West Virginia is trying to meet that need. Though its footprint in the national defense sector is small, representing just .1% of the $558.7 billion in defense contracts