Bonds

Municipals played catch up to U.S. Treasuries and were softer outside of 10 years, but the primary was the focus Tuesday with several large new issues repriced to lower and higher yields. Triple-A benchmarks rose one to two basis points, USTs were little changed on the day in the 10-year and off a basis point

A rocket carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office was successfully launched Tuesday off the eastern shore of Virginia, the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority announced, and if the two-year-old facility attracts more business, it will boost the state economy. The Minotaur I rocket took off from Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at the

The nine justices of the Supreme Court are scheduled to huddle behind closed doors June 24 to decide whether a potentially landmark case involving the taxation of telework will be placed on their docket for the fall term. The Biden administration last month asked the justices to not take this case involving temporary taxation of

Municipals were little changed Monday as the market awaits the larger new-issue calendar and participants position themselves ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting. After a week of U.S. Treasury strength, rates rose Monday bringing the 10-year back to 1.50% after hitting 1.43% Thursday, a three-month low. Municipals did not follow and few participants anticipate any

With the race for New York mayor riveted on public safety, candidates for comptroller got a chance to discuss the city’s finances in their first televised debate. That didn’t stop the top eight Democratic hopefuls from extending beyond financial nuts-and-bolts on Thursday’s NY1 get-together, in advance of the June 22 primary. Scott Stringer, who has

The Internal Revenue Service has told the city of Winchester, Virginia it closed an audit of $28.6 million in 2012 general obligation refunding bonds without taking any adverse action. Winchester announced the decision Thursday in a public notice on the EMMA database of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. “By letter dated June 1, 2021, the

A $4.4 billion, three-year boost in Wisconsin revenue projections will drive its once barren budget reserve to record levels and throw more fuel into the partisan showdown over the next state budget. The Legislature Fiscal Bureau’s fresh round of revenue projections – which are offered biennially in the spring to allow lawmakers to finalize the

Two bipartisan Senate infrastructure proposals unveiled Thursday have raised hope that the Biden administration will avert a Democrats-only approach. One involves a wide-ranging framework worked out by 10 senators while the other involves more narrowly tailored legislation that would spend $78 billion on passenger and freight rail. The narrowly focused bill is the latest bipartisan

The private operator of Puerto Rico’s electric transmission and distribution systems has been plagued by outages and protests since it took over June 1, culminating in a 900,000-customer outage Thursday. LUMA Energy’s takeover of these systems is a central part of the Puerto Rico Oversight Board’s plans to transform the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority

As the market for ESG-certified bonds grows, Oregon-based Kestrel Verifiers is growing along with it. The eight-person women-owned firm has added two new employees this year and gained marquee clients like Stanford University, the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and the cities of Boston and Seattle, the latter a joint project

Municipal bonds were firm Friday as the market prepares for a healthy dose of new-issue supply while the Federal Reserve gets ready to decide the course of monetary policy in the face of rising inflation. Yields on top-quality munis were flat on the AAA scales Friday; on the week, muni yields were as much as

This year’s mayoral election is one of the most significant in New York City’s long history. It’s also one of the strangest. A generational pandemic, a rare midsummer primary, an open seat, crime and financial strife plus a new wild card, ranked-choice voting, are all at play. Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams faces heightened scrutiny

The pandemic has highlighted the importance of basic functional infrastructure, budget management and affordable housing to the vitality of cities. That’s the takeaway from the 2021 State of the Cities report released Thursday by the National League of Cities. Nearly 600 cities, towns and villages were surveyed along with 57 mayoral speeches that provided additional

Municipal bonds were mostly steady Thursday after a report showing an unexpectedly high increase in consumer prices pushed U.S. Treasuries and stocks higher. Yields on 10- and 30-year munis were firm on the AAA scales while the 10-year benchmark Treasury yield fell to 1.46%, its lowest level since March 4. For the 14th week in

University of Chicago Chief Financial Officer Ivan Samstein is moving over to the hospital system to take the top fiscal post there at the end of the month. The appointment of Samstein, who left his position as Cook County’s CFO to take the top fiscal role at the university in 2017, will carry the title

Municipal bonds rallied Wednesday as triple-A benchmark yields fell as much as five basis points out long but bumps were seen across the curve, moving levels on high-grades below 1% on bonds maturing inside 14 years, while another round of billion-plus inflows were reported. The Investment Company Institute reported $1.089 billion of inflows into municipal

Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi signed a bill Wednesday rejecting any pension cuts and undoing pension reforms enacted in 2017, despite these cuts and adjustments being part of the proposed plan of adjustment and approved fiscal plan. “The public pensioners dedicated years of their lives to the service of our people and were the engine

The Treasury is generously allowing all state and local jurisdictions to use an assumed 4.1% rate of growth in calculating their revenue shortfalls to qualify for federal aid under the American Rescue Plan. That’s good news for jurisdictions that don’t normally achieve that growth rate. But for faster growing communities there’s a problem with the

The Wayne County Airport Authority heads into the market Wednesday for a new-money sale riding the tailwinds of a more stable fiscal picture thanks to federal support and rebounding passenger levels. The authority on Wednesday will borrow $163 million of senior lien airport revenue bonds to finance projects already approved by airlines at the Detroit

Municipals rallied by one to four basis points Tuesday following strong bids for competitive Georgia and Wisconsin exempt general obligation bonds and various negotiated deals repriced to lower yields while the 10-year U.S. Treasury dipped to 1.53%, a low not hit since March. The move in Treasuries helped, but after weeks of limited tax-exempt supply

Retail orders will begin Wednesday for Massachusetts’ $720 million tax-exempt, negotiated issuance of Commonwealth Transportation Fund bonds in three tranches. They include a $168 million sustainability component to help fund the $2.3 billion Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Green Line light rail extension — the so-called GLX project, which is 80% complete with service scheduled to

Munis were quiet Monday along with U.S. Treasuries as participants await the larger new-issue week that begins pricing Tuesday led by competitive deals from gilt-edged Georgia and the state of Wisconsin. Flat with little activity is how municipals started the week as ratios continued to be close to or at historic levels due to the

President Biden said Monday his Justice Department will defend current law that denies Supplemental Security Income benefits to Puerto Rico residents but he called on congress to amend the Social Security Act to extend those benefits. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled in April 2020 that the prevailing federal practice of

A suit by the Puerto Rico Senate against the transfer of the island electrical system’s transmission and distribution system has itself been transferred to the federal Puerto Rico bankruptcy court. On Thursday the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority and Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority transferred the case to the PREPA bankruptcy in the United

Armed with strong rating agency reviews and with an eye toward infrastructure and workforce development, Maine expects to come to market the week of June 7 with a $99 million negotiated general obligation bond sale. The deal is comprised of $82 million of Series B tax-exempt and $17 million of Series A federally taxable bonds,

House Democrats have introduced a five-year $547 billion surface transportation reauthorization bill that the committee will consider next week. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Peter DeFazio, D-Ore. unveiled their INVEST in America Act Friday. The bill would provide federal funding for roads, bridges, mass transit, and rail infrastructure which is important for many issuers

Whether voters will get to decide proposed Detroit charter revisions opposed by the city’s mayor as a threat to its fiscal solvency is headed to the Michigan Supreme Court. The Michigan Supreme Court agreed Friday to the Detroit Charter Review Commission’s request that it take up the question after an appellate court Thursday upheld a

California voters rejected a school bond measure for the first time in 30 years in March 2020 and state Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, wants a do-over. His Senate Bill 22, the Public Preschool, K-12 and College Health and Safety Bond Act, passed the Senate Thursday on a 31-5 vote. If the State Assembly approves it,

Municipal bonds strengthened on the long end Friday after the latest employment report showed continued job growth and buoyed equities and Treasuries. The Labor Department said nonfarm payrolls rose 559,000 in May as the jobless rate fell to 5.8% from 6.1%. The numbers showed slow but steady strength in the labor market, but came in

A Puerto Rico court rejected a motion from several bond underwriters to dismiss a bond insurer suit against them for misrepresentations in their official statements. Senior Judge Ladi Buono de Jesús issued the decision Wednesday from her position in the Court of First Instance in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Bond insurers National Public Finance Guarantee