Bonds

New rhetoric from the Biden administration may add a degree of difficulty to the nonprofit hospital merger trend that remains solid in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 27 mergers and acquisitions involving not-for-profit and for-profit hospitals were announced in the first half of the year, compared to 43 for the first

Municipals had a firmer tone, but not enough to move benchmark yields, as the final new issues of the week priced with bumps in repricings amid a stronger U.S. Treasury market. Refinitiv Lipper reported another week of $2 billion-plus inflows, with high-yield making up $654 million, buttressing the sector’s strength. It marks the 19th consecutive

Richard “Dick” L. Weill, 78, a pioneer in the financial guaranty insurance industry and former vice chairman of MBIA Insurance Corporation, died on July 4. With over 40 years of experience in the municipal bond industry, Weill was a former partner and municipal bond attorney at Kutak Rock before joining MBIA in 1989 as general

Connecticut Treasurer Shawn Wooden grew up in Hartford’s impoverished North End. “I know how the cycle of poverty helped push people back,” he said. That helped shape his push for his “passion project” for the past legislative session — CT Baby Bonds. The program, which Wooden calls first in the nation, took effect July 1

Florida has seen 14 straight months of job growth, gaining 69,300 private sector jobs in June, the state’s Department of Economic Opportunity said Friday. June’s increase was more than double the May gain of 34,600 jobs and the largest rise of the year. Since the height of the pandemic in April 2020, Florida has gained

The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority of Illinois trimmed its spread penalties in the first primary outing of an Illinois-linked borrower to reap the benefits of the state’s positive rating momentum. The agency that manages Chicago’s downtown convention center campus priced $811 million of refunding bonds Thursday. It saw a 98 basis point spread to

Municipals ended the week steady along with U.S. Treasuries ahead of one of the more diverse and chunky calendars the summer has seen while supply still simply isn’t keeping up with demand, which should keep municipal yields in a tight range. The total potential volume for next week is estimated at $9.033 billion, up from total

Chicago is searching for a financial advisor to help assess development proposals as it looks to stake out a share of the casino gambling market with the promise of a roughly $200 million annual jackpot. The city launched a request for qualifications for an advisor July 14 to help evaluate proposals it receives from a

Virginia closed out fiscal 2021 with an historic $2.6 billion surplus, the largest recorded in state history, Gov. Ralph Northam said Wednesday. Total revenue collections were up 14.5% over fiscal year 2020, according to preliminary figures, far ahead of the 2.7% growth that had been forecast. Total revenue collections hit $8.6 billion in the fourth

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the question of whether to nominate Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for a second term is a conversation for her and President Joe Biden, declining to give her opinion in a televised interview. “That’s a discussion I’m going to have with the president,” Yellen said Thursday on CNBC. The

Brian Egan will join the National Association of Bond Lawyers as its next director of governmental affairs Aug. 2. The announcement of the experienced policy advocate comes just weeks after NABL bid farewell to Jessica Giroux, who had represented the group’s interests in Washington for more than three years. Egan brings experience advocating on behalf

Lagging attendance at the home of the King of Rock and Roll continues to batter the tourist-tax municipal bonds that were issued to gussy it up. The bonds were sold in 2017 for a development project at Graceland, the former residence and now resting place of Elvis Presley, which has become a worldwide tourist attraction

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board reached a verbal agreement with bond insurers on a debt repayment plan on Wednesday, two days after they reached an agreement with unsecured creditors representing the largest debt holders in the negotiations. Lawyers at Proskauer Rose LLP representing the Oversight Board, and federal Judge Laura Taylor Swain, agreed to delay

Chicago Public Schools laid out a proposed $9.3 billion fiscal 2022 budget that directs $707 million towards capital and spends down about $1 billion of the district’s $2.6 billion of federal relief to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed budget for the fiscal year that began July 1 raises spending by about $900 million

The high level of incarceration in the U.S., especially among Americans of color and indigenous people, constrains the labor market and the economy’s ability to reach its full potential, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said. “Incarceration is a drag on our ability achieve our maximum-employment goal,” Bostic said Tuesday at the start

Municipals were little changed Tuesday, ignoring another rise in U.S. Treasuries and a weaker stock market, with the focus on the primary which saw deals bumped in repricings. Another day of UST weakness after less-than-stellar auctions and municipals stayed in their own lane. Some participants said without the UST rise in yields, municipal benchmarks likely

Illinois’ rating upswing is rippling down to two Chicago-area borrowers hard hit by the pandemic as they prep debt restructurings to smooth out fiscal damage from the pandemic. The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which manages Chicago’s convention center campus, expects to price an $832 million forward delivery refunding Thursday to current refund 2002 and

Billionaire Richard Branson’s flight aboard a Virgin Galactic spacecraft Sunday marks a publicity milestone for New Mexico’s Spaceport America two weeks after a successful debt refunding. “Fifteen years ago, New Mexico embarked on a journey to create the world’s first commercial spaceport,’’ Branson said Sunday. “Today, we launched the first human spaceflight from that very

Municipals were little changed with a slightly weaker tone outside of 10 years Monday ahead of a larger and diverse primary as the second week of July reinvestment kicks into gear. U.S. Treasuries fluctuated but held mostly steady after midday auctions. The 30-year UST sat just at 2% near the close while triple-A municipal benchmark

White Plains, New York, and the bond insurer for debt the Westchester County Industrial Development Agency issued to build a downtown parking garage are at odds over who is on the hook for a looming $1.7 million bond payment for the facility. ACA Financial Guaranty of nearby Rye insured the bonds. The next payment is

Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi on Thursday proposed removing pension cuts from the island’s debt restructuring negotiations, asking legislators instead to deal with the issue in regular budget negotiations. Observers say the move is political and unlikely to help parties come to consensus over the pension issues, and further complicates getting the Plan of Adjustment

Kentucky’s general fund receipts came in $1 billion above projections for fiscal year 2021, the Office of the State Budget Director reported on Friday. General fund receipts rose 10.9% to $12.8 billion for fiscal 2021 from the same period in the previous year, $1 billion above the prior budgeted estimate and the highest annual growth

Wayne County, Michigan, received an upgrade from Moody’s Investors Service this week that pushed the once speculative-grade credit into the single-A category six years after a financial crisis. Moody’s raised the county’s issuer rating and the general obligation and lease rental bonds issued by the Detroit Wayne County Stadium Authority to A3 from Baa1 and

Hawaii lawmakers made changes to bills that would have used COVID-19 federal relief funds to make debt payments and replenish reserves before ending a special session Thursday, which was called to act on the governor’s vetoes. Gov. David Ige announced plans June 21 to veto 28 bills and ultimately vetoed 26 of them by Tuesday’s

The Regional Transportation Authority of Illinois and the Chicago Transit Authority won upgrades from Moody’s Investors Service as sales taxes recover and worries about exposure to fallout from the state fade with Illinois on stronger fiscal ground. Both had carried a negative outlook assigned in May 2020 as the pandemic took a toll on sales

U.S. Treasuries pared back gains with yields rising by four to six basis points Friday and stocks rallied to record highs as investors’ concerns over a lull in the economic recovery quieted. Municipal bonds did as they often do on a summer Friday — stayed on the sidelines and awaited the coming week’s larger new-issue

Rating agencies are pushing municipal issuers to build cybersecurity into risk mitigation as an environmental, social, and governance factor. That includes enhanced disclosure. The most recent headline case involved a ransomware attack on software manager Kaseya, which remotely controls programs for companies. Estimates peg that at least 200 businesses were affected. Vehicles board a Steamship

Municipal bond benchmark yields fell another two to six basis points Thursday, marking a three-day rally along with U.S. Treasuries as a risk-off trade took hold while inflows continue to flood funds. U.S. Treasuries continued their rally with the 10-year falling to 1.287% and the 30-year at 1.911% near the close. Municipal-to-UST ratios are in

Illinois reaped a second rating reward for its improving fiscal condition with its first S&P Global Ratings upgrade in 24 years. The upgrade to BBB from BBB-minus followed a similar move by Moody’s Investors Service last week raising the rating to the same level at Baa2 with a stable outlook. In June, Fitch Ratings moved

San Jose, California, will head to market Wednesday with a $200 million competitive general obligation bond deal riding an upgrade to AAA from Fitch Ratings. The city received the one-notch upgrade to its GOs, but not its issuer default rating from Fitch, for both the upcoming deal and $502 million in outstanding GO debt, based