Bonds

Municipals were on autopilot in the secondary with rates holding at Wednesday’s levels as U.S. Treasuries weakened on stimulus news. New-issues from Cook County, Illinois and Pennsylvania turnpikes repriced by 10 to 15 basis points and gilt-edged Columbus, Ohio, also repriced to lower yields. Supply scarcity coupled with pent-up demand amid the seasonal redemption season

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s $92.3 billion fiscal 2022 preliminary budget rollout came with caveats about the levels of federal aid and prospective cuts from the state. The lingering COVID-19 crisis makes them more poignant than past advisories. De Blasio on Thursday said the spending plan, the final one for the term-limited mayor, “demonstrates

Fitch Ratings said Thursday it upgradedLouisiana’s outstanding state highway improvement revenue bonds to AA from AA-minus and assigned a stable outlook to the bonds. Approximately $224 million of debt is affected. In addition, Fitch assigned the AA rating to the state’s $202.415 million of Series 2021A taxable state highway improvement refunding revenue bonds scheduled for

The University of Utah is reopening classrooms for the spring 2021 semester.U. of Utah Amid a challenging environment for higher education, the University of Utah is diving into 2021 with $172 million of taxable and tax-exempt bonds. The university is planning to price the new money and refunding debt Jan. 21 through negotiation with book-runner

Los Angeles lawmakers reached a tentative agreement with a union that represents 3,600 city firefighters Thursday to postpone raises for 18 months amid a pandemic-induced budget gap. The COVID-19 crisis has caused the worst economic downturn Los Angeles has ever faced, decimating city revenues and depleting budget reserves, according to a joint release issued by

President-elect Joe Biden’s proposed $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill would relieve the financial stress on local governments.Bloomberg News Direct federal aid of $350 billion to state and local governments is just one of several ways President-elect Joe Biden’s proposed $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill would relieve the financial stress on local governments. Biden’s plan to

Municipals were quiet and remained steady on Friday as U.S. Treasuries dipped slightly following President-elect Joe Biden’s address Thursday night that outlined plans for a $1.9 trillion relief package and the market prepared for a three-day weekend. In his speech, Biden called for a new round of stimulus checks and pandemic control measures. “Everyone was

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren said President-elect Joe Biden’s request for $1.9 trillion in economic relief is needed as growth shows signs of slowing. “It’s a big package, but I think it’s appropriate,” Rosengren said Friday in a CNBC interview. “The economy is in a lull right now, we’ve had a series

The Fitch Group announced its intention Thursday to acquire CreditSights, Inc., a provider of independent credit research. CreditSights and The Fitch Group, which includes Fitch Ratings, announced the deal in a statement and the deal’s terms are not being announced. Consummation is contingent on regulatory approvals and “customary closing conditions,” according to CreditSights. The Fitch

Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and two emergency managers he appointed were arraigned along with six others Thursday on criminal charges for alleged actions in the 2014 Flint water contamination crisis that occurred while the city was under state fiscal oversight. The charges filed against the former governor who served from 2011 to 2019 are

Shreveport, Louisiana, Mayor Adrian Perkins asked the City Council to approve a special April election for $206.685 million of general obligation bonds in four referendums. The Council said Tuesday that it will take the matter under discussion and is expected to hold a formal vote soon on whether to put the GOs before voters on

Former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder was charged with willful neglect of duty on the eve of the state’s announcement about the outcome of a criminal probe into the lead contamination of the water supply in the city of Flint. The charges against Snyder were filed Wednesday by the state’s attorney general, Dana Nessel, in state

Municipal yields were little changed Wednesday as several new issues priced in the competitive market and U.S. Treasuries pared back earlier losses. Markets were mostly unmoved in either direction as the U.S. House of Representatives was preparing to vote to impeach President Trump, a week after a mob took over the Capitol. Strong technicals continue

Gary Gensler’s strong rule-making background honed during the last financial crisis could bring a municipal market regulation push to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Gensler is reportedly President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the SEC and sources say his experience as an active regulator as head of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission may transfer to

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s requests to fast-track some appropriations in his budget proposal received mixed reactions from lawmakers during budget hearings held Monday. The budget process typically gives lawmakers until June to approve a budget, but Newsom, citing the coronavirus pandemic, highlighted several areas where he wanted money allocated in the next several weeks. Assemblyman

It’s premature to discuss reducing the amount of monetary-policy support for the U.S. economy while the pandemic is still raging, said Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard. “We want to get through the pandemic and sort of see where the dust settles, then we will be able to think about where to

Alethia Nancoo joined Squire Patton Boggs’ 12-person global board. Washington-based Nancoo concentrates on public, private and project debt finance, with particular emphasis on capital markets, infrastructure construction, airport, toll road and surface transportation, mixed-use multifamily housing, and water and sewer utility sectors. For the full story, posted Jan. 12, click here.

After the first full week of 2021, munis mostly brushed off the volatile news cycle and risk-on/risk-off movements in equities and U.S. Treasuries as technicals remained squarely in the muni market’s favor. Municipals were little changed Monday as participants await the larger new-issue calendar while equities and U.S. Treasuries react to tumultuous news out of

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin says the U.S. could face a bumpy first six months but will be well supported by the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and fiscal stimulus later in the year. “I do think you’re looking at a second half that is going to be very strong and the question

Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi appointed Francisco Rodríguez Dosal as executive director of the Puerto Rico Highways Transportation Authority Monday. The authority’s debt is currently in Title III bankruptcy as part of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act. The HTA has about $6 billion of debt outstanding, most of it bond debt.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, South Carolina is coming to market with $182.355 million of high-quality tax-exempt general obligation bonds. The state will competitively sell the GOs in three separate offerings of refundings and new money on Wednesday. South Carolina GOs have been trading about three basis points above Refinitiv Municipal Market Data’s

Oklahoma’s gross receipts to the Treasury fell 3.8% in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, high unemployment and falling oil prices, state Treasurer Randy McDaniel said. The report comes a month before lawmakers meet in Oklahoma City to allocate $8.46 billion in spending for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Collections from all sources in

Transcripts of the Federal Reserve’s 2015 policy meetings show that then-Fed Chair Janet Yellen acknowledged that the Fed should sacrifice potential job gains in order to cut off the possibility of higher inflation. Yellen, who left the Fed in 2018, has been nominated by President-elect Joe Biden to lead the Treasury Department and hold one

Municipal bond yields rose again Friday in sympathy with, though lagging, U.S. Treasuries as tax-exempts continue to be less tethered to their taxable counterparts. Munis have only risen five to seven basis points since Treasuries began selling off on Monday. Triple-A curves saw yields rise one to three basis points but ratios remain low. On

S&P Global Ratings said Friday that it raised the long-term rating on Louisiana’s $285.715 million of Series 2013A and 2014A state highway improvement revenue bonds to double-A from double-A-minus. At the same time, S&P assigned a double-A long-term rating to the state’s $202.71 million of Series 2021A taxable state highway improvement fund revenue refunding bonds.

The Illinois Supreme Court should reject the “cramped” definition of state borrowing authority applied in litigation seeking to void $14.3 billion of Illinois general obligation bonds, the state argues in a brief. The state’s arguments in the brief mark the latest salvo in the efforts by John Tillman, head of the conservative Illinois Policy Institute,

The continued escalation of COVID-19 cases in California and the resulting economic volatility took precedence as Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled his $222.2 billion budget proposal for fiscal 2021. Newsom wants to spend some of the money from a $26 billion income tax windfall, but also set aside $22 billion for reserves while pinning some hope

When global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright announced new partners added to its ranks Friday many women, including San Francisco-based Mary Kimura were among those promoted. Kimura was one of 10 lawyers in U.S., and the only public finance attorney, named to partner. The firm promoted 25 female lawyers globally, representing 53 percent of the

A San Francisco judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by a whistleblower accusing major banks of colluding to inflate variable-rate demand obligation interest rates. This week, Judge Anne-Christine Massullo in the Superior Court of California in the County of San Francisco said the plaintiff, Edelweiss Fund, did not sufficiently allege falsity under the state’s false claims

Municipal yields rose in secondary trading, being pulled higher in sympathy with overall rates despite very little issuance over the past few weeks, leaving a lot of cash still on the sidelines while inflows into municipal bond mutual funds continue. The market treated the ongoing turmoil in Washington as a single event that won’t have