Bonds

Municipals continued to show strength on Monday ahead of this week’s larger calendar. Yields on the AAA GO scales were steady to down as much as one basis point, continuing to entice issuers with record low rates. Back in March, the coronavirus pandemic led to the fastest sell-off in municipals on record — only to

Puerto Rico’s government, politicians, and people struggled with how to deal with a botched Sunday primary. Many voting places had ballots delivered several hours late or not at all on Sunday. According to the electoral coordinator for Eduardo Bhatia, candidate for governor in the Popular Democratic Party, only 38 of 110 voting precincts completed the

Orange County, Florida, faced with almost four lost months of hotel bed tax collections, used a reserve account to bolster the sinking fund that pays debt service on bonds issued for the Orange County Convention Center. Tourist development tax collections, also known as resort, hotel, or bed taxes, were $2,629,400 in June, a 89.2% decrease

Litigation seeking to void $14 billion of outstanding Illinois general obligation bonds remains alive after an appellate decision concluded the lower court erred in refusing to allow the taxpayer action to proceed. The Thursday opinion from the appellate panel came in a case first launched in July 2019 by Illinois Policy Institute head John Tillman,

Carbondale, Illinois — home of Southern Illinois University’s flagship campus — was slapped with a four-notch downgrade over budgetary and pension strains ahead of a $3.6 million refunding. S&P Global Ratings cut the rating to BBB-plus from AA-minus as the rating is capped due to the city’s structural imbalance. The outlook is stable. “The downgrade

Newly hired Long Island Power Authority Chief Financial Officer Tamela Monroe has arrived during a busy period for the public utility as it tackles aggressive infrastructure goals while grappling with financial challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Monroe, a utility veteran dating back to the early 1980s, was approved as LIPA CFO in late July

Two rating agencies weighed in on a recent California Supreme Court ruling in a pension reform case that could have had wider ramifications for a series of pension rulings, commonly referred to as the “California Rule,” which has created ironclad protections for government worker pensions. While Fitch Ratings said the ruling had no impact on

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Democrats offered to meet Republicans and the Trump administration halfway on the size of an emergency coronavirus relief package.Bloomberg News Local and state governments are facing the prospect of a long wait before any new federal aid is approved to help them meet budget shortfalls and increased expenses related to

Although the July nonfarm payrolls data surpassed market expectations, the smaller gain than last month suggests rough times ahead for the economy and a slower recovery. Nonfarm payrolls rose 1.763 million in July after increasing by 4.791 million the prior month. The unemployment rate declined to 10.2% in July from 11.1% in June, the Labor

Municipal bond buyers will see a slate of new deals that are made up of green bonds and taxable issues that focus on California, Minnesota and Florida issuers. IHS Ipreo estimates volume for the week of Aug. 10 at $8.7 billion in a calendar composed of $5.9 billion of negotiated deals and $2.9 billion of

Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board chair Ed Sisk will stay on for another year in a time of transition for the board. The MSRB announced the news Thursday afternoon following the Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of signficant changes to the board Wednesday night, including reducing the MSRB’s board size to 15 members from 21. “We

The rally in municipal bonds intensified Thursday, with yields dropping by as much as four basis points on the long end of the AAA scales. Even as yields moved lower, investors kept putting cash into municipal bond funds. Refinitiv Lipper reported $1.6 billion of inflows into muni mutual funds in the week ended Aug. 5,

Tennessee may join a handful of states offering businesses liability protection from employees and others who sue because of contracting the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Gov. Bill Lee has called a special session of the General Assembly starting Monday to consider legislation that offers limited immunity from liability to businesses, schools, nonprofit organizations, churches, academic

Municipals continued to rally on the long end Wednesday, with yields dropping by as much as two basis points on the AAA scales. Buyers saw more new issues come to market, which despite lowered yields were greeted with open arms. “When the market rally in early May pierced the 1% level in 10 years and

Puerto Rico fiscal year 2020 general fund revenues came in 10.7% short of a May 9, 2019, projection but 3.1% ahead of a May 27, 2020, projection. The Puerto Rico Treasury reported the results Wednesday. While the January earthquakes hurt collections, the governor’s order to close much of the economy from March to the present

Repubican opponents of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposal to borrow up to $9.9 billion for offsetting COVID-19-related revenue losses was argued before the state’s highest court Wednesday and they said the state’s constitution and past legal precedent should prevent the plan from proceeding. “The framers did not intend to give the state a blank

Texas sales tax revenues rebounded to positive numbers in July after a deep, three-month slump brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and falling demand for oil. At $2.98 billion, the July revenues represented a 4.3% increase compared to the same month last year. The positive numbers reflect federal stimulus and the relaxed Texas opening of

Minnesota’s top rating from S&P Global Ratings is at risk over its COVID-19 budget hole and how the state might close the potential three-year, $7 billion gap. S&P moved the outlook on the state’s AAA rating to negative from stable this week in a report ahead of a $1.2 billion new money and refunding general

A federal judge ruled that Puerto Ricans are eligible for federal benefits they’ve been heretofore denied: Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and the Medicare Part D Low-Income Subsidy (LIS). U.S. District Court Judge for Puerto Rico William Young issued the decision on Monday. In his decision, Young said that the federal

RBC Capital Markets had a recent shake-up with the departure of James Tricolli as co-head of municipals. Bob Spangler is now head of municipals at RBC and has plans to continue to grow its business in the muni space. Robert SpanglerRick Schwab e:rick@rickschwab.ne Tricolli did not respond to a request for comment on why he

Lawyers for a bond trustee and a Missouri county will square off Wednesday before an appellate court over the legal enforceability of the county’s pledge to cover shortfalls on a $32 million industrial development bond issue. Platte County leaders decided in 2018 not to cover a $765,000 shortfall in tax revenues generated in the Zona

Municipals were steady on Monday, with yields unchanged on the AAA curves as the market moved into the dog days of August. “July proved to be one for the record books, which apparently will need new pages added if the current momentum continues,” according to FHN Financial Senior Vice President Kim Olsan. “Several major spot

The Lexington-Fayette, Ky., Urban County Government Public Facilities Corp. will sell by competitive bid $33.19 million of taxable refunding bonds on Tuesday, in its first-ever “scoop and toss” deal. The bonds will restructure up to three years of payments on bonds issued by the Kentucky Bond Development Corp. in 2018 to finance a comprehensive renovation

Jacksonville, its city-owned JEA utility and Georgia-based MEAG Power Thursday announced a settlement of all the legal issues between them. Since September 2018, JEA has been in court attempting to shed the 20-year, take-or-pay power purchase agreement that requires it to pay debt service on bonds and U.S. Department of Energy-backed loan guarantees issued to

Rig hands move equipment at a hydraulic fracturing site atop the Marcellus Shale rock formation in Washington Township, Pennsylvania.Bloomberg News A new tax credit, a grand jury report, national election-year politics and regional bickering have revived debate over natural gas drilling, long a complex Pennsylvania political football. “It’s been a multi-faceted endeavor that’s affected a

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has designated its chief compliance officer as interim chief regulatory officer, almost a year after the resignation of its prior regulatory chief. The decision was made during a two-day quarterly MSRB board meeting this week to name Gail Marshall as interim chief regulatory officer. That position was previously held by

Once again, Friday’s economic data offered a mixed picture, with consumer sentiment down, spending up and incomes lower, while the Chicago Business Barometer was at its highest since May 2019. The University of Michigan’s final consumer sentiment index for July slipped to 72.5 from the preliminary reading of 73.2 and June’s final reading of 78.1.

July saw a total of $42.61 billion in municipal bonds sold, a staggering 41.3% higher than July 2019’s total, as issuers continue to flood the market with deals, specifically taxable muni transactions. Taxable bond volume increased 518.3% month-over-month to $16.13 billion from $2.61 billion in July of 2019. Year-to-date, taxable volume sits at $68.98 billion.

Municipal bond buyers will see a varied slate of new deals heading their way, with taxable deals leading the slate. The largest issue on the calendar is a $900 million taxable general obligation bond deal from the state of Hawaii. Municipals continued to strengthen, with yields steady to down as much as two basis points

Fitch Ratings Friday revised the outlook to negative on the United States’ sovereign rating. The rating agency affirmed its AAA rating on the United States’ long-term foreign-currency and local-currency issuer default ratings while dropping the outlook from stable. Fitch Ratings revised its outlook on the United States’ AAA rating to negative from stable. Fitch said