Bonds

A week of increased volume is in store for investors from issuers selling airport bonds for Chicago O’Hare and exempt and taxable bonds for the New York Yankee’s Stadium — a $12.6 billion calendar full of credits that are under the analyst microscope. Taxable issuance remains a strong presence on the new-issue calendar, a trend

Municipal bond buyers saw the last of the week’s large deals come to market on Thursday as bond prices showed little change, with yields on the AAA scales barely moving at all. In the latest week, tax-exempt mutual funds saw nearly $612 million of inflows. It was the 19th week in a row of positive

The Securities and Exchange Commission is conducting a probe of FirstEnergy Corp. whose former subsidiary’s municipal bonds benefited from Ohio taxpayer bailout legislation at the center of bribery charges that brought down the State House speaker, according to a private lawsuit. Lawyers for a potential whistleblower report in federal documents show that they’ve been on

A federal grand jury handed down an eight-count indictment against Atlanta’s former chief financial officer, charging him with illegally using city funds to buy custom-built machine guns and “stealing tens of thousands of dollars of the public’s money,” federal prosecutors said. Jim Beard, who was Atlanta’s CFO from November 2011 to May 2018, and was

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker ramped up warnings over the dire measures that lay ahead without more federal relief to make up for COVID-19-inflicted revenue wounds, ordering cabinet members to identify cuts and lobbying the state’s representatives in Congress. Pritzker is laying the groundwork for potential cuts and layoffs at the state and local government level

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said if elected he would reverse the Puerto Rico Oversight board’s austerity policies. On Tuesday he released a position paper on Puerto Rico and talked about the topic at a campaign rally in Florida. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Puerto Rico’s debt should be audited and that some of

St. Petersburg, Florida-based Raymond James plans to lay off hundreds of employees, matching a trend among banks as the coronavirus pandemic continues its downward influence on the economy and earnings. About 500 of the company’s 13,900 employees, or 4% of the global workforce, will be impacted, a spokesperson said. The cuts were announced Tuesday. “We

Firefighters douse flames with water Sunday near Oroville, California, fighting a blaze that has killed at least 15 people.Bloomberg News Dozens of deadly wildfires raging across California, Oregon and Washington could also pose a risk to state and local budgets already struggling under the weight of the pandemic. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, said

American Campus Communities, one of the largest developers of student housing, reported an 8% drop in occupancy in September as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to hinder college attendance. The decline was twice as high among first-year students, according to a statement to investors from ACC Chief Executive Bill Bayless. “This group of students, who are

Two large New York issuers came to market on Tuesday — the Transitional Finance Authority with a $1.27 billion deal and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority with a $900 million sale — as the first of this week’s large offerings were greeted by eager buyers. Participants gave the deals mixed reviews. Additionally, the Puerto Rico Housing

Chicago-based 10-hospital Northwestern Memorial HealthCare and independent Palos Health are exploring a merger, the latest in a wave of consolidations that some sector experts believe will only accelerate amid pressures posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The two will conduct due diligence; the union is subject to review by the boards of each system and requires

A company building a novel factory in California that has defaulted on its debt payments is seeking the state’s approval to sell an additional $53 million in tax-exempt bonds. CalPlant I LLC, constructing the world’s first facility converting rice cultivation debris into fiberboard, will appear before the California Pollution Control Financing Authority on Tuesday for

Philadelphia plans to sell nearly $400 million in airport revenue refunding bonds to achieve near-term debt savings to offset revenue losses from the COVID-19 pandemic. Pennsylvania’s largest city will sell $395 million in airport revenue refunding bonds in late September to refund debt sold on behalf of Philadelphia International Airport 10 years ago. The city-owned

When the Federal Open Market Committee meets Tuesday and Wednesday, the markets will keep a close eye on the Summary of Economic Projections, more commonly called the “dot plot.” With no rate changes expected in the foreseeable future, the dot plot will update the panel’s thoughts. The last SEP, released in June, showed no FOMC

Pennsylvania, coming off an outlook cut from S&P Global Ratings, expects to come to market on Wednesday with a competitive $469 million general obligation first series of 2020 bond sale. S&P on Sept. 1 revised its outlook to negative from stable, with analyst Jillian Legnos citing at least a one-third chance of a downgrade. “The

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration faces a fast-approaching deadline to finalize its borrowing strategy for the next fiscal year to combat expected revenue losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Murphy has proposed a $32.4 billion budget for a shortened nine-month 2021 fiscal year starting Oct. 1 that would include $4 billion of borrowing either

Congressional lawmakers are showing an increased interest in what they think is the poor functioning of the Federal Reserve’s Municipal Liquidity Facility, and some lawmakers believe changes should be made to expand it to more local governments. During a Municipal Analysts Group of New York webinar, Emily Brock, director of the Government Finance Officers Association’s

Municipals finished little changed on Friday with yields remaining steady along most of the AAA GO scales. Almost $10 billion of new deals are on the calendar for the upcoming week and once again taxable issuance is well represented with offerings from issuers in Texas, New York and California high on the list. “The theme

The more than three year process of negotiating a new Puerto Rico central government $35 billion debt deal has reached a turning point. On Tuesday the Puerto Rico Oversight Board submitted a status report to the court overseeing the bankruptcy that said “only a brief respite is required” to determine if the board could reach

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority received its latest hit from Wall Street on Friday when Moody’s Investors Service downgraded its primary transportation revenue bond credit to A3 from A2. The downgrade affects $24.4 billion of transportation revenue bonds. The outlook is negative. The MTA has scheduled the sale of $900 million in transportation revenue green

Municipals were mixed Thursday as the market searched for direction, with short yields slipping while longer dated yields rose as large negotiated deals from issuers in Oregon, Texas and Georgia came to market. Meanwhile, municipal CUSIP request volume decreased in August for the second month in a row. Available cash is keeping inflows steady in

Chicago took initial steps Thursday toward what may shape up to be a long-term $8.5 billion program to replace lead-based water service lines in the city. Mayor Lori Lightfoot, joined by members of her water management and health departments, put forth several modest programs with limited costs and said it was too early to talk

In the first two months of fiscal 2021, Georgia saw state revenue collections exceeded prior year levels despite lingering elevated unemployment rates. Net state revenue collections in August totaled $1.89 billion, an increase of 7.7% over 2019, Gov. Brian Kemp said Thursday. In July, revenues totaled $2.15 billion for an increase of $311.8 million or

A $95 million bond issue to finance a student housing and academic facility at the University of Illinois’ Chicago campus lost one of its investment grade ratings as the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to damage occupancy levels. S&P Global Ratings cut by two notches to BB from BBB-minus the 2017 student housing revenue bond issue sold

Legislators concerned about New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s borrowing plans have new ammunition to fight it, as the state’s Office of Legislative Services tax revenue projection was $1.37 billion more than the Department of Treasury said. The projection covers collections through the end of June, and is the largest gap ever between estimates from OLS

The Federal Reserve has made it clear it believes the economic recovery depends on how the coronavirus progresses, and it expects a long return to a pre-COVID levels, but economists beg to differ, offering their own view of the shape of the rebound. At the beginning of the pandemic-related shutdown, many believed it would be

Municipals were little changed on Tuesday and off to a slow start post the Labor Day holiday. Triple-A benchmarks showed steady levels from last week while trade volume remained light ahead of the week’s $7 billion new-issue slate. With the “fall fling” about to occur with municipal issuance, yields have reset back to levels of

While municipalities will clearly have more budgetary flexibility thanks to a recently enacted New York law that allows municipalities to extend rollover periods on bond anticipation notes by two years, its impact on long-term issuance will be determined largely by the length of the COVID-19 pandemic. “When the economy can recover will dictate what happens

Southwest Airlines’ willingness to take the slots JetBlue is vacating at California’s Long Beach Airport by JetBlue is good for the A3-rated airport, according to Moody’s Investors Service. “The award is credit positive for the airport because it removes the uncertainty of the airport’s ability to reallocate the 17 available slots, which equal one-third of

“We will continue to work with the Senate and House on a bipartisan basis for a phase four relief package,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said Sept. 1 at a House hearing.Bloomberg News The post-Labor Day return of Congress to Washington leaves lawmakers just over three weeks to agree on a stopgap to avoid a government