Bonds

Northeast municipal issuers sold $129.99 billion of debt last year, a 14.7% increase from 2019 as states, cities and agencies scrambled amid the COVID-19 disruption. Taxable deals and refinancings helped fuel the spike. Nationally, par amount totaled $483.6 billion, up 13.4% from the previous year, according to data from Refinitiv. “Issuance was really driven by

The Federal Reserve’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed interest rates to historic lows over the past year. Changes to the Fed funds target rate and an extensive bond-buying program have driven down rates both at the short and long end of the yield curve. The 10-year Treasury, with a yield that had hovered

Bipartisan bills to expand the use of tax-advantaged bonds that are being reintroduced in the new Congress have favorable odds for being signed into law this year. The most notable one for the public finance sector came first on Thursday with the reintroduction of a Senate bill to reinstate tax-exempt advance refunding sponsored by Sen.

Municipal bonds were little changed Friday after a sell-off in global bond rates helped send muni yields more than 40 basis points higher on the 10- and 30-year triple-A benchmark since the rout began on Feb. 17. The market took a much-needed breather Friday and U.S. Treasuries pared Thursday’s losses to see the 10-year fall

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board took steps to advance the territory’s overdue audited financial statements Friday. Board members have said current comprehensive annual financial reports are aimportant for Puerto Rico to ultimately sell bonds again. The Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act indicates that Puerto Rico should have current financial information. Puerto Rico

Municipal new issue volume in February fell year-over-year as tax-exempts led the way down and refunding volume sank amid more new-money issuance. While issuance fell significantly from 2020, it was higher than January’s and only the fifth time in 35 years that volume exceeded $30 billion in February. Total volume fell 27.5% to $30.608 billion

Municipal bond yields continued their ascent, following U.S. Treasuries higher, as markets adjust to rising rates and an improving economy that created an environment in which stocks sold off not because of economic uncertainty but stabilization. The atypical relationship — falling stocks and rising USTs — is likely temporary as global markets essentially recalibrate, moving

The fate of Illinois’ S&P bond rating will depend on its recovery from COVID-19, federal stimulus and the final form of its fiscal 2022 budget, the rating agency said Thursday. In its first published review of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposed spending plan, S&P Global Ratings laid out the risks, uncertainties and potential positives of the

As Texas lawmakers launched investigations into the lethal power failures triggered by last week’s deep freeze, analysts dug deeper into the economic impact. “It’s a disincentive for investment in Texas,” Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, said of the calamity in a hearing Thursday in the State Affairs and Energy Resources Committee that he sits on. At

A suburban Chicago senior living retirement facility is on track to exit bankruptcy next month — for the second time — with creditor voting now underway and conduit issuer approval for its restructuring bonds in hand. The restructuring gives the facility more breathing room by requiring bondholders to take a haircut and wait longer to

The Tennessee State School Bond Authority netted a record low interest rate on its largest ever bond sale, which will save state colleges and universities almost $112 million in net present value interest cost savings over the next 24 years. Jefferies priced the authority $713.4 million of taxable higher education facilities refunding bonds the week

While lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are optimistic that highway spending has the bipartisan support it needs to pass this year, there is growing concern about the viability of broader infrastructure spending moving on the same timetable. During a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing Wednesday, EPW Chair Tom Carper, D-Del., said

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision to impose relatively short bars and no financial penalties on the auditors of the College of New Rochelle indicates that the commission takes seriously the work of these disclosure gatekeepers despite their not being complicit in the fraud uncovered in 2019. The SEC charged two former KPMG auditors on

Municipal yields rose for the sixth day in a row Tuesday, pushing the 10-year above 1%, a level not seen since May 2020. High-grade deals priced and secondary trading showed bonds exchanging hands at yields higher than triple-A benchmarks in some cases, but a healthy two-way flow was evident, even if there are signals that

Nancee Robles will head two California state committees that oversee state bond entities that are heavily involved in affordable housing. Robles starts March 1 with the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee and California Debt Limit Allocation Committee. She replaces Judith Blackwell, who had also headed both. Blackwell had headed CTCAC since September 2019, and was

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said President Joe Biden favors boosting taxes on companies, and signaled openness to considering raising rates on capital gains, while steering clear of a wealth levy. “A wealth tax has been discussed but is not something President Biden” favors, Yellen said at a virtual conference on Monday hosted by the New

The Puerto Rico Treasury announced steps to crack down on tax fraud, which is widely believed to be a major problem on the island. Reducing tax fraud is one of the goals of the fiscal plan approved by the Puerto Rico Oversight Board in May. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service will collaborate with the Puerto

A bill to enhance some Chicago pensions would force the city to sock residents with a property tax hike they can ill afford during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Lori Lightfoot warned in a letter urging a veto. Lightfoot laid out the city’s case against the firefighters’ pension legislation in a written appeal to Gov. J.B.

California revenues for January came in $7.5 billion ahead of projections included in the governor’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2022, according to the state’s Department of Finance. The cash receipts report comes just after Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature announced Wednesday they had reached an agreement on a $9.6 billion stimulus package that

Even with a gubernatorial transition on hold for two months, Rhode Island is moving ahead with its March 2 referendum on seven bond issues. Voters on March 2 will decide on $400 million overall to benefit projects in transportation infrastructure, housing, educational building improvements and parks. Outgoing Gov. Gina Raimondo, whose appointment for U.S. Commerce

A public-private partnership agreement announced by Maryland this week that would be the largest P3 project in the world is a significant and positive development for the U.S. as a P3 market. The Maryland Department of Transportation made the announcement Thursday that Transurban and its partner Macquarie Capital will start predevelopment work to build out

The prospects for new federal aid and a proposed budget that avoids negative rating triggers should preserve Illinois’ investment-grade status, but neither moves the needle on the structural and pension albatrosses. Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposed $95.5 billion fiscal 2022 budget, with a $41.7 billion general fund, clears what was estimated late last year as a

Municipals ended weaker Friday with triple-A benchmark curves rising the most in a week since COVID-19 disrupted all markets in March and April of last year. Muni yields rose another five basis points on the 10- and 30-year Friday, bringing the total cuts to scales to 18 and 17 basis points, respectively, from Tuesday as

San Franciso’s largest school district has received a second ratings downgrade after it indicated to the state that if revenues don’t exceed expectations, or it doesn’t cut costs, it may not be able to meet its financial obligations within the next two years. Moody’s Investors Service downgraded to Aa3 from Aa2 San Francisco Unified School

The Federal Reserve warned of significant risks of business bankruptcies and steep drops in commercial real estate prices in a report published on Friday. “Business leverage now stands near historical highs,” the central bank said in its semi-annual Monetary Policy Report to Congress. “Insolvency risks at small and medium-sized firms, as well as at some

Rising Treasury yields are a sign of optimism in the economic recovery, said a senior Federal Reserve official Friday, signaling no inclination from the central bank to take steps to halt the shift. “We’re seeing signs of rising inflation expectations, back to levels that I think are closer to consistent with our 2% long-run goal,

Federal Reserve actions will continue to bolster the U.S. economy as it battles the COVID-19 pandemic, the central bank said Friday in its twice-yearly update to Congress. “Monetary policy will continue to deliver powerful support to the economy until the recovery is complete,” the Fed said. The report was published on its website ahead of

Federal lawmakers and others critical of providing more aid to state and local governments say the money should be more targeted than currently proposed, and warn overspending on relief poses a risk to U.S. financial stability. During a Senate Banking Committee hearing Thursday, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., criticized the $350 billionof direct federal aid to

Municipal yields rose on Thursday by as much as six basis points as the correction to higher yields continues, but if inflows are any indication, the technicals (low supply, high demand) surrounding munis won’t allow rates to rise much higher in the near-term. Those inflows keep coming as Refinitiv Lipper reported $1.955 billion into municipal

Los Angeles heads to market Wednesday with a hybrid tender offer and refunding as it struggles to close a pandemic-induced deficit that brought a negative outlook from Kroll Bond Rating Agency. The deal marks the second by a California issuer to make a tender offer ahead of a taxable refunding in the hope of taking