Bonds

After weeks of intense negotiations between legislators, creditors and the Puerto Rico Oversight Board, the board officially filed an eighth amended Plan of Adjustment for the island’s massive debt restructuring that includes more generous treatment of pensions. It sets the stage for negotiations during the Confirmation Hearing that is scheduled to start Monday. As a

Municipals were stronger Thursday out longer, while U.S. Treasuries rallied, larger on the shorter end, and Refinitiv Lipper reported $600 million of inflows, the most since mid-September, signaling the fund complex is still engaged in the asset class. Triple-A benchmarks bumped levels by one to three basis points, with the largest moves out longer on

Chicago now has stable rating outlooks across the board after S&P Global Ratings lifted its outlook from negative Thursday. The rating agency cited $1.9 billion in federal relief, a recovering economy and budget decisions that haven’t dented the city’s path toward structural balance in 2023. S&P’s affirmation of Chicago’s BBB-plus general obligation rating comes ahead

On a day when the Federal Open Market Committee made taper official, equities hit all-time record highs and U.S. Treasuries lost ground, while municipals made gains early on and stuck with them in an actively traded secondary. High-grade benchmark yields fell one to three basis points while USTs ended the day higher after an up-and-down

Puerto Rico’s economic activity index for August showed improvements from July and from August 2020. The index’s value was up 0.2% from July and up 3.3% from August 2020. August was the second consecutive month the index went up on a month-to-month basis. “The recovery in economic activity continues but at a weaker pace,” said

A federal judge approved civil sanctions against former IFS Securities Inc. trader Keith A. Wakefield, while a parallel criminal case advances with an arraignment set for Nov. 9. Wakefield is accused of embezzling funds and doctoring the now defunct Atlanta-based firm’s books as part of a cover-up, as well as unauthorized trading of fixed-income securities

As the lights and tumult died down, New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams stood among his supporters at his campaign headquarters in Brooklyn and looked out over the crowd. Just having defeated Republican Curtis Sliwa, by a 73% to 23% margin Tuesday night, Adams felt it was time to bring home his message of unity

President Joe Biden said he’ll announce soon his choice of nominees for chair and other vacancies on the Federal Reserve, amid a scandal over stock trades by central bank officials. “We’ll be making those announcements fairly quickly,” he said Tuesday at a press conference at a climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. President Joe Biden said

Municipal market provisions booted out of the Build Back Better bill last week remain important but “compromises had to be made,” House Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard Neal said Tuesday. Neal’s comments came during remarks at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s annual meeting. “I tried my best to guard these provisions in

Municipals were little changed and lightly traded Monday as the market readies for the new month and lighter supply this week while all eyes remain on Wednesday’s FOMC meeting. Triple-A benchmarks were little changed on Monday while ratios hovered near recent levels. Municipal-to-UST ratios saw the 5-year at 53%, the 10-year at 76% and the

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board said the current bond adjustment deal would collapse unless the bankruptcy judge said a recently passed law, which bars pension “cuts,” actually allows for the board’s planned pension changes. Puerto Rico Oversight Board Attorney Martin Bienenstock raised these concerns in a pretrial conference and hearing leading up to the Plan

California’s congested ports are getting a $5 billion injection of loan money that won’t solve its immediate congestion problems but will help modernize the ports in years to come. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced Thursday the state’s ports could tap funding through the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act

The Build Back Better framework released this morning by President Joe Biden does not include any of the municipal market’s top priorities. Included in an original reconciliation bill but dropped from the newly released framework are: the restoration of tax-exempt advance refundings; a direct-pay bond program; an expansion of the eligible uses of private activity

New York transparency advocates received some batches of sunshine with new initiatives from Gov. Kathy Hochul and state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. Hochul on Thursday announced transparency plans for more than 70 executive agencies and changes to the Freedom of Information Law process. It piggybacks on her signing a week ago of the MTA Open Data

October municipal bond volume fell 51% year-over-year, but was on par with a 10-year average as last year’s figures were skewed by COVID-19 market interruptions earlier in the year and the presidential election. Some analysts point to the overall lower issuance figures as a symptom of issuers sitting on the sidelines, awaiting a potential tax

Mesirow has taken the first steps in what will be a multi-year effort to expand its presence in Florida and across the Southeast. After having one of the most successful fiscal years in its 84-year history, the firm announced on Thursday that it would build up its offices in the region by hiring more staff

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board plans to request comment on its Rule G-27 related to dealer supervision in the next month. That and a number of other issues were discussed during the MSRB’s quarterly board meeting this week. “As part of our commitment to prudent and practical regulation, we are focused on a retrospective review

Puerto Rico’s leaders welcomed President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Act budget proposal for its inclusion of funding for three programs that would benefit the island. As it stood on Friday, Biden’s $1.85 trillion spending and taxing proposal would introduce the Supplemental Security Income program to provide $1 billion to island residents, would increase the

Municipal bonds were lightly traded and benchmark yields steady to end October while U.S. Treasuries bounced throughout the trading session, ending stronger near the close, and market participants are pointing to near-term volatility for both asset classes going into November. In the near-term, the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee meeting should contain “an intense discussion

The Build Back Better legislation unveiled by the White House yesterday not only failed to include municipal market priorities but may also hurt demand for muni bonds by institutional investors. The bill features a new 15% corporate minimum tax that would apply to the adjusted financial statement income for corporations with more than $1 billion

Municipals were steady but with a firmer bent as new issues were the focus even as volatility in U.S. Treasuries returned and yields swung higher, moving the 20-year bond above the 30-year. Triple-A benchmark yields fell one to two basis points, with the larger moves outside 10 years. Municipal-to-UST ratios fell as a result, with

A flood of Chicago paper planned over the next year should find an amiable investor reception after federal aid and rebounding revenues stabilized the city’s bond ratings and temporarily drowned out worries over how the city will structurally balance its books once the aid dries up. That’s the assessment offered by several members of the

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority alleged in an Oct. 26 complaint, that an underwriter and its representatives made numerous fraudulent and negligent misrepresentations and omissions of material fact in connection with two municipal bond offerings. Both bonds defaulted and customers lost in excess of $6.2 million. The disciplinary action was brought by FINRA against Cantone

The Illinois Municipal Electric Agency won an upgrade from Fitch Ratings due to positive fiscal operating trends that analysts don’t believe will suffer from the power agency’s ownership stake in the Prairie State coal facility that faces new state-imposed clean energy mandates. Fitch raised IMEA’s issuer default rating and credit on $831 million of power

Municipals were stronger on the backs of a U.S. Treasury rally but underperformed the movements there, pushing ratios on the 10-year near 80% and the 30-year close to 90%. Triple-A benchmark scales were bumped two to three basis points on bonds outside nine-years while the 10-year UST fell seven basis points and the 30-year fell

The Democrats’ proposal to tax unrealized capital gains for about 700 of the richest Americans would raise the stakes on the inexact science of valuing municipal bonds. The specifics of a slimmed-down version of what was once a $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill are expected to be released this week, but a new proposal released Oct.

As California Gov. Gavin Newsom preps for his annual budget reveal in January, he anticipates another “historic surplus,” he said during an interview at the Milken Institute’s global conference last week. The state’s revenues were $9.1 billion more than expectations outlined in the fiscal 2022 budget signed in July, according to the state Department of

Municipals saw yields rise in spots along the curve, mostly inside of 10 years, as secondary trading picked up, and more bonds were out for the bid. U.S. Treasuries moved to lower yields and equities ended in the black. Triple-A benchmark yield curves saw one to two basis point cuts. After mostly ignoring the better

State and local governments would be allowed to use a portion of their unspent COVID-19 relief funds for infrastructure and disaster relief under a bipartisan bill the Senate passed unanimously last week. The National Association of Counties sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy on Oct. 22, urging them

Puerto Rico bankruptcy Judge Laura Taylor Swain threatened to dismiss the case and ordered the bankruptcy parties to mediation. “My patience is wearing thin,” Swain said, noting the case has taken 4 1/2 years so far. Puerto Rico could lose bankruptcy protection against bondholder suits, she said, as she might “be forced to consider” dismissing