Bonds

Private-activity bonds backing the long-planned Purple line light rail system in Maryland received a credit boost following approval of a financial settlement that contains protections for bondholders of the beleaguered public-private partnership. Fitch Ratings upgraded Purple Line Transit Partners’ senior-lien revenue bonds issued through the Maryland Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) by one notch to BB-minus

There will be pressure on the incoming Biden administration to persuade Congress to quickly approve direct aid to state and local governments.Bloomberg News State and local governments will need to focus their efforts on getting additional federal aid from the Biden administration now that Congress has completed its budget work for the year. President Trump

The joint powers board that operates Caltrain, a heavy rail commuter line between San Jose and San Francisco, received a one-notch ratings boost to A-plus from S&P Global Ratings. The upgrade affects $72.6 million in outstanding farebook box revenues, consisting of $47.6 million in farebox revenue bonds and $25 million for subordinate revolving line of

Municipal bonds were unchanged Monday as the new-issue calendar slipped into neutral for the next two holiday-shortened trading weeks. Yields on top-rated muni bonds were steady, remaining unchanged across the AAA scale. Treasury yields moved a bit lower as stocks traded little changed after Congress neared agreement on a $900 billion stimulus package and a

2020 has been a year like no other. Uncertainty remains as the number of coronavirus cases rises and a new strain in the United Kingdom. Despite the availability of a vaccine, which is now being rolled out, surveys show some unwilling to take it and others questioning its effectiveness. In addition to this, Stifel Chief

Next month, Joe Biden is going confront not only a terrible pandemic but also a pressing economic challenge. And this challenge is unfolding beyond Washington as the sum of thousands of smaller economic challenges being felt in statehouses, county seats, and city halls all across the country. Fortunately, there are tools at hand that President

Long-struggling Harrisburg has received enhanced taxing authority from Pennsylvania that city officials say will help it refinance debt and avoid another fiscal cliff. “This is tremendously important to Harrisburg for generations,” Mayor Eric Papenfuse said in an interview. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, received state authorization to extend taxes the city uses in its debt reduction strategy.Bloomberg News

The California Department of Finance had some good news for lawmakers grappling with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The state is besting the revenue forecasts from the delayed August fiscal year 2020-21 budget forecast, the DOF reported. California will have more revenue breathing room than anticipated as the state’s leaders turn their attention to

Lawmakers in Louisiana approved moving forward with the state’s second transportation public-private partnership to replace the 68-year-old Interstate 10 bridge over the Calcasieu River between Westlake and Lake Charles. The joint House and Senate Committee on Transportation, Highways and Public Works voted unanimously for the P3 project estimated to cost between $600 million and $800

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. should consider intervening news articles that go against claims by the Securities and Exchange Commission that a temporary exemptive order for municipal advisors was necessary, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. Late Thursday, SIFMA filed a motion with the court , asking it to

Municipal bonds ended the last full week of trading of 2020 flat ahead of a mere $57 million new-issue calendar, leaving the secondary market to handle the market’s tone for the remainder of the year. Lipper late Thursday reported $915 million of inflows into municipal bond mutual funds for the week ending Dec. 16. Trading

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board set out five goals for major changes in 2021 at Friday’s public meeting. Board Executive Director Natalie Jaresko said the board will work to advance audited financial statements, institute structural reforms in Puerto Rico laws and governance, enact fiscal measures, accelerate recovery from recent earthquakes and hurricanes, and respond to

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida, voicing optimism on the economic outlook thanks to coronavirus vaccines, said the U.S. will likely avoid slipping back into recession as growth rebounds next year. “I don’t think we will have a double dip,” Clarida said Friday in an interview on CNBC. “We’ve said we could have a rough

The Federal Reserve’s futile efforts to achieve 2% inflation have basically failed for a decade. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, with its disinflationary effects, raising questions of how that would impact future inflation. Projections still suggest it will take time for inflation to rise to 2%. The Fed in its latest Summary of Economic Projections

Michigan lawmakers signed off on legislation that authorizes $600 million of borrowing to settle litigation over the Flint water contamination crisis. The Senate signed off last week on the legislation and the House followed on Wednesday, both in bipartisan votes. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is expected to sign the legislation as the borrowing plan was part

Municipal bond yields were little changed Thursday while the new-issue market, expecting a large taxable deal out of Texas, will see $1.2 billion less supply in an already supply-starved market as a Texas developer pulled the LBJ Infrastructure Group’s private-activity bond deal. “Based on their continuing evaluation of debt management alternatives for their U.S. toll

RBC Capital Markets LLC. has agreed to pay $685,520 in restitution to settle charges that it violated a supervisory municipal securities rule after the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority found it didn’t establish a supervisory system when advising customers on 529 plans causing those customers to incur excess fees. FINRA announced the settlement this week, in

The Federal Open Market Committee announcement commits it to buying at least $120 billion of securities a month until “substantial further progress” is made on its dual mandate of stable prices and maximum employment, suggesting it will continue well into 2022. But market watchers warn this doesn’t account for inflation surprises. The announcement the Fed

The California Health Facilities Financing Authority won The Bond Buyer’s 19th annual Deal of the Year award for its $500 million issuance to benefit the California Department of Housing and Community Development. This was the inaugural issuance under the “No Place Like Home” program, the municipal market’s first large bonding program created to invest in

An appellate court is poised to set a date for oral arguments in the litigation between the state of Florida and the Miami-Dade County Expressway Authority. Florida’s First District Court of Appeal received a request from the authority Nov. 18 for oral arguments to be scheduled. The appeal has been fully briefed. The Miami-Dade County

Municipal yields were steady Tuesday as investors were handed billions of New York, Connecticut and Texas paper with deals re-pricing to lower yields, pre-sold totals high and sub-5% coupons a dominant theme. Meanwhile, as expected, Illinois sold $2 billion of notes to the Federal Reserve through the Municipal Liquidity Facility. The notes yield 3.42% and

Illinois began chipping away at a nearly $4 billion budget hole this week by slashing $711 million in spending and the expected closing this week of a $2 billion loan through the Federal Reserve’s Municipal Liquidity Facility. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced the fiscal 2021 cuts Tuesday. He also called on lawmakers to lay out

This article is part of a series spotlighting The Bond Buyer’s ten 2020 Deal of the Year award winners, running from December 9 through 15. One of these honorees will be chosen as our national Deal of the Year at a virtual event taking place December 16. For more information on the Deal of the

The municipal market was steady Monday as participants await the last full week of 2020 and issuers price the final large new deals of the year into a very issuer-friendly market. Even with COVID-19-related shutdowns — a New York City lockdown may be imminent — issuers are pricing bonds into an extremely low-rate environment and seeing

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board is arguing with central government creditors on underlying assumptions affecting projected revenues and spending. Since Saturday various parties have released more than 190 pages of position papers, arguing many issues. The positions on the economy, revenues, and spending will ultimately affect how much money is included in the negotiated central

Although many economists say the COVID-19 pandemic is a deflationary or disinflationary event, a rise this week in the producer price index put the core rate above pre-pandemic levels, and has some believing inflation will soon re-emerge. Earlier this week, BNP Paribas at its 2021 outlook virtual conference predicted inflation expectations will rise in 2021,

Municipal bond issuers should heed the advice to enter no new Libor-based contracts in 2021, according to Cindy Harris, the chair of the Government Finance Officers Association working on the phase-out of the benchmark. That advice comes from New York Federal Reserve Senior Vice President Nathaniel Wuerffel, who suggested Thursday that the financial services industry

Philadelphia has approved a new residential construction tax and changes to a property tax abatement program, paving the way to new bond sales to aid the city’s poorest communities. City Council president Darrell L. Clarke wants the revenues from the new tax and reduced real estate tax breaks to support $400 million in bonds for

Clark County, Nevada’s draw on reserves to make a December 1 payment on bonds used to finance Allegiant Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, doesn’t materially change the county’s credit quality, Moody’s Investors Service said. The county withdrew $11.6 million from a reserve fund to make a $16 million debt payment on

The temporary conditional exemption is still not widely used, said Michael Decker, senior vice president of policy and research at Bond Dealers of America. A bump in overall municipal issuance in October caused the number of deals using a temporary exemption that allows municipal advisors to arrange certain private placements, to increase nearly threefold, sources