Bonds

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester backed raising interest rates by half percentage points at the central bank’s next two policy meetings in order to tamp down surging inflation.  “Unless there are some big surprises, I expect it to be appropriate to raise the policy rate another 50 basis points at each of

As gas prices hit a fresh record high Friday, some analysts wonder when they will begin to impact the credit quality of transportation assets, like toll roads and airlines. Not now, S&P Global Ratings said in a report, but that could change if high prices stick around. “From a historical perspective, volatile fuel prices have

Illinois’ rosier near-term fiscal landscape and state bond rating momentum helped lift the ratings of public transit agencies and the state’s public universities and more than $5 billion of rated debt.   Earlier this month, Moody’s Investors Service upgraded the Illinois Regional Transportation Authority’s $1.7 billion of general obligation bonds to Aa3 from A1 due

California Gov. Gavin Newsom rolled out an $18 billion inflation-relief package during his May budget revision that included $400 rebates to car owners as well as expanded rental assistance and help covering past-due utility bills. The state budget boasts a $97.5 billion surplus, according to the governor’s estimates, but lawmakers also face spending restrictions from

A reversal of U.S. Treasuries added more selling pressure on municipals Friday with another day of cheaper trading in the secondary leading to cuts in triple-A scales after a week of underperformance to taxables that pushed ratios firmly above 100% out long. Municipal triple-A benchmark yields rose up to five basis points in another rough

BondLink has partnered with InspereX to connect issuers to independent registered investment advisors by directly linking BondLink’s investor relations pages with InspereX’s BondNav platform. The partnership allows RIAs to access BondLink’s hosted investor relations pages without having to leave InspereX’s BondNav platform — the first cloud-native bond aggregation platform — enabling users to learn more about

Illinois-based Advocate Aurora Health and North Carolina-based Atrium Health plan to merge, which would create the fifth largest not-for-profit health system by revenues nationally. The hospital chains would create a joint operating system under the name Advocate Health that would operate 67 hospitals across Illinois, Wisconsin, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama with combined

Municipals were mixed Thursday as the last of largest new-issues priced in the primary led by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, while U.S. Treasuries caught a risk-on trade and equities rebounded near the close after larger losses earlier in the session in another volatile day. Triple-A benchmark yields rose up to

As drought conditions worsen in California and other western states, rating analysts are weighing the potential impacts. California state water officials announced during a media call Tuesday that the governor plans to increase his budget request for state conservation efforts after the state’s residents failed to heed his request in March to reduce consumption, instead

Municipals were weaker in choppy secondary trading while the primary market was active with several large new-issues pricing amid another swing in U.S. Treasuries, which ended the day at lower levels three years and out in a risk-off trade. Equities ended another day in the red. Triple-A benchmark yields rose up to three basis points,

S&P Global Ratings lifted the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority out from junk territory, upgrading the authority to BBB-minus from BB-plus. The hotel taxes that repay its Soldier Field bonds are on the mend and the agency is no longer putting efforts to spare Chicago’s city government from covering gaps between its tax revenue and debt

The economist Lisa Cook will be the first Black woman on the Federal Reserve board of governors after winning Senate confirmation by the narrowest possible margin Tuesday. The 51-50 vote required a tiebreaking appearance by Vice President Kamala Harris. Absences caused by COVID-19 cases among Democrats in the evenly divided Senate had delayed Cook’s confirmation

The implementation process for a Texas law aimed at financial company “boycotts” of the fossil fuel industry led a state municipal bond issuer to drop three underwriters from a recent deal. Meanwhile, another big energy producing state, Oklahoma, enacted a similar law this week. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs removed Barclays, RBC

Municipal triple-A yield curves were steady Tuesday while the focus was on the primary, which kicked into gear with several large new issues out of New York, Oregon and Wisconsin pricing. U.S. Treasuries ended a bit better while munis were little changed on the day and the moves pushed muni to UST ratios higher. Ratios

Texas voters approved record bond packages for San Antonio and Fort Worth on Saturday, while a few school districts with large debt proposals stumbled, particularly with projects unrelated to academics, according to unofficial election results. Cities and school districts across Texas piled a record $18.5 billion of bonds on ballots for the spring election as

Municipals were off by a few basis points ahead of a larger new-issue calendar, while U.S. Treasuries rallied with the largest swings to lower yields on the short end, steepening the curve, and equities sold off to 13-month lows. Triple-A muni benchmarks were cut up to four basis points while UST yields fell 10 to

The Federal Reserve warned of deteriorating liquidity conditions across key financial markets amid rising risks from the war in Ukraine, monetary tightening and high inflation in a semi-annual report published Monday. “According to some measures, market liquidity has declined since late 2021 in the markets for recently-issued U.S. cash Treasury securities and for equity index

April revenue collections set records in Southwest states as a strong economy and elevated inflation boosted income and sales tax collections, although some officials are urging caution as uncertainty clouds the coming months. Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas reported all-time high collections as states begin to announce their April revenue performance. Everything is going right for

In our first-quarter municipal (muni) bond outlook, the twin risks of higher inflation and rising interest rates were a key focus.  We maintain now, as we did then, that these risks could also present opportunities in certain corners of the fixed-income market, especially among shorter-duration municipal bonds.  At the end of 2021 into the early

Mohamed El-Erian, a closely followed bond-market strategist, says the Federal Reserve has a trust problem with financial markets and the nation over inflation. “It has a credibility issue with the American people and that is why chair (Jerome) Powell chose to address the American people at the beginning of his press conference” on Wednesday, the

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot chose Bally’s Corporation from the three short-listed candidates to hold the city’s first casino license, with the promise of a $40 million upfront payment and then a $200 million annual tax jackpot. The selection of the Bally’s $1.7 billion casino and resort development proposal marks a milestone in the city’s decades-long

A coalition of former transportation officials, advocates and union leaders wrote a letter to California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins urging them to release voter-approved bond funds to move the state’s high-speed rail project forward. The letter is the latest in the skirmish over California’s embattled high-speed rail project,

A drumbeat of criticism is building over a proposed global tax regime that may hurt demand for tax-exempt debt and other U.S. tax credits. What’s not clear is whether Treasury is hearing it. At issue is implementation of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s new minimum global corporate tax rate of 15%, a deal

Municipals were weaker amid more selling pressure to close out the week, U.S. Treasury yields rose with the 10-year sitting firmly above 3% and equities ended in the red. Triple-A muni benchmarks were cut up to four basis points while UST yields rose five to 10 basis points five years and out. Muni to UST

S&P Global Ratings raised Illinois’ ratings by one notch Friday. The action completes a round of upgrades that rewarded the state for progress in tackling chronic strains that were made worse by a two-year budget impasse that dragged the state’s ratings to the edge of junk. S&P lifted the general obligation rating to BBB-plus from

The Texas Natural Gas Securitization Finance Corporation on Friday picked Jefferies to lead a team of underwriters for its upcoming $3.4 billion bond issue for utilities that were hit with high costs during 2021’s Winter Storm Uri. A few members of that team — Morgan Stanley, one of the deal’s co-senior managers, along with co-managers

Municipals saw more losses and outflows from mutual funds, but outperformed a rout in U.S. Treasuries while equities also sold off Thursday. Triple-A muni benchmarks were cut up to five basis points while UST yields rose 10 to 14 basis points five years and out. Muni to UST ratios were at 83% in five years,

Wisconsin Capital Finance Director David Erdman will retire in July after a 32-year career with the state, the last seven in the role of debt manager during which the state won upgrades and his stature as an advocate for the issuer community grew. Erdman plans to leave the state July 2 and on July 5

California’s legislative analyst has recommended lawmakers reject the governor’s spending plans or face deficits in coming years. The state’s massive surpluses of the past few years, and expectations they will continue for the next few years, put the state in a quandary, because of revenue ceilings approved by voters during the state’s tax revolt in

The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority received state approval on Wednesday for a $200 million revolving line of credit to jumpstart its $5 billion expansion and improvement program, but it will not be able to spend a portion of the money unless a lawsuit is resolved in its favor. The state’s Council of Bond Oversight placed the