Bonds

The outlook on Phoenix-based Grand Canyon University’s junk bond rating was revised on Monday to negative from stable by Moody’s Investors Service amid the school’s ongoing clash with federal regulators.  Moody’s said while its Ba1 rating incorporates GCU’s “substantial scale, enrollment growth trend, and adequate operating performance,” several factors led to the outlook change. The

Munis were weaker Monday ahead of a $9 billion new-issue slate and the first full week of 2024 while U.S. Treasury yields fell and equities ended up. Munis “continue to be expensive when compared to Treasuries, falling well below the average of 85% for 10-year munis,” said Jason Wong, vice president of municipals at AmeriVet

A deal on overall fiscal 2024 federal spending hammered out by Congressional leaders would claw back another $6.1 billion of pandemic funds, most of which appear to be from the Department of Health and Human Services. With a partial government shutdown looming, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., agreed

Continued financial pressure will impact the nonprofit healthcare system in 2024, Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings analysts said Thursday. “We think we have another tough year ahead of us,” Fitch Senior Director Kevin Holloran said during a webinar. Despite some positives, such as an increase in demand, labor costs remain a major problem for

David Elgart, former president and chief compliance officer of the now defunct Roswell, Georgia-based Sequoia Investments has agreed to settle charges with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for his role in acting as an unregistered dealer between May 2020 and May 2021, accepting a suspended fine. Without admitting or denying the findings, Elgart consented to

As government funding deadlines loom just weeks away, cities and states face fallout from federal aid cuts, the claw back of pandemic funds and reductions in the always-vulnerable Build America Bond subsidies. The federal government is currently operating under a pair of short-term continuing resolutions that expire within weeks. The departments of Agriculture, Veterans Affairs,

The U.S. District Court for Puerto Rico ended a Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bondholder discrimination adversary proceeding, asking parties to raise the issues they have during the plan of adjustment confirmation hearing planned to in early March. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain stayed the proceeding while saying plaintiffs GoldenTree and Syncora Guarantee should

Municipals were mixed ahead of a new-issue calendar that rebounds to more than $9 billion. U.S. Treasury yields rose further Friday as the December jobs report cast doubt on whether the Fed would start cutting rates in March. Equities were up near the close. There was already “significant upward pressure” on Treasury yields in recent

From baby bonds to pension funding, 2023 was a year for progress in Connecticut, according to the annual report released Wednesday by State Treasurer Erick Russell. “The work done by our agency often focuses on the long-term — sustained investment success, low-cost infrastructure funding, helping families save for college, and now our landmark ‘CT Baby

Bonds used to buy eight senior living properties in Michigan and Ohio are likely to default within six months, S&P Global Ratings said. On Dec. 21, S&P placed bonds issued for Great Lakes Senior Living Communities LLC — already rated deep in the speculative grades at CCC-minus — on CreditWatch with negative implications. The bonds

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s new rate card model is coming under fire by broker-dealer and municipal advisor groups for what those groups see as a lack of transparency, vague budget commitments and a warped process that sets spending plans before revenue for those targets has been met. The MSRB’s rate card model is new

Municipals were little changed Wednesday, while U.S. Treasury yields fell slightly and equities ended the session down after the Federal Open Market Committee’s December meeting minutes offered little insights into future rate cuts. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Wednesday was at 56%, the three-year at 58%, the five-year at 58%, the 10-year at 58% and the

Arizona’s universal school voucher program would face greater oversight and restrictions under proposed legislation unveiled by Gov. Katie Hobbs Tuesday.  Citing a projection the empowerment scholarship accounts (ESA) will cost the state nearly $1 billion this fiscal year, the Democratic governor called for increased accountability and transparency.  ”Arizonans deserve to know their money is being

Municipals were lightly traded and little changed in the first session of 2024 while U.S. Treasuries were weaker and equities lost ground as markets pulled back to reassess expectations after the end-of-year’s large rally. Triple-A yields were softer in spots while USTs saw yields rise six to 10 basis points with the larger losses on

When the full Indianapolis City-County Council on Dec. 4 approved a plan to finance Eleven Park, a $1.5 billion mixed-use development anchored by a minor-league soccer stadium, the vote was nearly unanimous.  The plan, authorized by Indiana’s General Assembly, carves out a new tax area downtown: the Additional Professional Sports Development Area. It will enable

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green unveiled last week a proposed $19.2 billion supplemental budget and the results of an oversubscribed $750 million general obligation bond sale. In his proposed budget, Green shifted some capital improvement spending from the general fund to bond funding, pointing to ongoing costs from the Aug. 8 Maui wildfire. Revenue expectations also

The muni market saw a large uptick in taxable bond tenders as issuers saw an opportunity to restructure their debt portfolios to unload taxables that have been trading at deep discounts. Taxable bonds that could be replaced with tax-exempt debt “has been the main target market segment for bond tenders as late (close to 60% of total),

With 2023 municipal bond issuance of $59 billion, Texas wrested the title of top volume state from long-time debt behemoths New York and California. The debt, which was sold by Texas state agencies, cities, counties, schools, and others, and accounted for 15.5% of nationwide issuance, lifted the Lone Star State to the number one ranking

Illinois saw an uptick in its fiscal fortunes in the past fiscal year, one of the few times the state’s net position has improved since that figure swung from black to red in to red in 2002. The net position includes tax collections and government services and measures the state’s assets relative to its total

Total 2023 municipal bond volume fell slightly from 2022 as market volatility, higher interest rates, pandemic aid and slower economic growth kept issuers on the sidelines. However, a robust fourth quarter buoyed issuance for the year, so volume only ticked down 2.8%, much better than previous quarters where issuance was down double digits. The year