Bonds

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

Munis were weaker Friday ahead of a larger new-issue calendar. U.S. Treasuries saw yields fall, and equities ended the trading session up. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Friday was at 66%, the three-year was at 67%, the five-year at 68%, the 10-year at 71% and the 30-year at 90%, according to Refinitiv MMD’s 3 p.m. read.

Nuveen’s former longtime head of municipals John Miller has landed at New York-based First Eagle Investments, where he will oversee the firm’s debut in the municipal bond market. Miller, 56, is expected to join the firm in January, where he will set up a new muni department that will focus on junk bonds, his specialty

Legislation that would update Internal Revenue Service rules governing debt financing for small to mid-sized manufacturers and farmers is getting a fresh push in the Senate. The Modernizing Agricultural and Manufacturing Bonds Act is sponsored by Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.   “By modernizing and clarifying the rules for aggie bonds and industrial development

Bondholders may have actionable claims related to the sale of now-defaulted debt that financed an Arizona participant sports venue for Legacy Cares Inc., which filed for bankruptcy in May, according to a disclosure notice.  Law firm Davis & Ceriani “has concluded that there may be actionable claims related to the sale of the bonds that

California State Controller Malia Cohen has agreed to chair a task force to establish audit criteria and best practices to detect and curtail charter school fraud following a case that cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars. Cohen said she stepped forward when she learned of the prosecution of the San Diego charter school

Munis sold off Thursday, joining bond markets and equities in a rout after the Fed signaled that interest rates would be higher for longer. The Federal Open Market Committee held rates steady Wednesday, as expected, but signaled another hike this year. Munis were steady Wednesday but triple-A yields were cut eight to 16 basis points

As high-speed rail project sponsors across the country compete for federal infrastructure funds, Republican lawmakers Wednesday urged U.S. transportation chief Pete Buttigieg to reject California’s request for its long-struggling project. “We should work together, you and I, to conduct a full audit of the project before any high-speed grant decisions are made,” Rep. Troy Nehls,

Municipals were steady Wednesday as U.S. Treasuries were mixed fiollowing the Fed’s decision to hold interest rates. Equities ended the trading session down. As was expected, the FOMC held rates in a range between 5.25% and 5.50%, but the dot plot in the Summary of Economic Projections showed 12 of 19 members expect another 25-basis-point

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board now includes hourly updates from Bloomberg’s BVAL AAA Municipal Curve on its EMMA online system, a move the board says seeks to enhance transparency for investors, issuers and market participants. The updated site now shows BVAL AAA Municipal Curve updates hourly between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern, in addition

Municipals were weaker Tuesday as triple-A yields rose in sympathy with U.S. Treasuries. Equities ended the session down ahead of the close of the Federal Open Markets Committee meeting Wednesday. Triple-A yields were cut two to seven basis points, depending on the scale, while UST yields rose four to six basis points, pushing the two-,