Bonds

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

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,

Municipals improved Friday to close out a week of more gains despite some U.S. Treasury volatility, positioning the asset class to see historically high returns for the month. Equities ended up near the end of the trading session. Triple-A yields fell up to four basis points, depending on the curve, outperforming a mixed UST market,

With the acceleration of technology in all markets, firms are trying to create solutions to process data — from issuer offering documents and continuing disclosures to trades and pricing and evaluations — and turn it into digestible, usable forms. For an illiquid, over-the-counter market with more than 50,000 issuers and a million securities outstanding, challenges

With an ever-changing landscape that now includes artificial intelligence, firms in the municipal market can be overwhelmed by the technology choices facing them, and their decisions will impact their bottom line. As new technology tools are developed will the current infrastructure become obsolete, requiring new investment? These questions and others have brought the build versus

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 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 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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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