Bonds

On top of a pandemic, a severe recession and massive civil unrest, Isaias barreled up the East Coast alternately as hurricane and tropical storm in the latest catastrophe for 2020. And the season is still early. Tropical Storm Josephine — the earliest 10th-named storm on record — is next, percolating in the Caribbean Sea. Caution

If Democrats gain majority control of the Senate, the floor agenda would be decided by Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York starting in January. Bloomberg News Whether Democrats will regain majority control of the Senate may be the most crucial question for the municipal finance sector in this year’s November election. Democrats already are

Friday’s batch of economic indicators all came in near expectations, as U.S. economic data continues to “surprise on the upside” through July. Retail sales moved up 1.2% in July, after a revised 8.4% jump in June, the Commerce Department said on Friday. Economists polled by IFR Markets predicted sales would increase 1.8%. “The retail sales

At least $500 billion is needed for municipalities, said Glenn Hubbard, retired dean at Russell L. Carson Professor of finance and economics at Columbia University. Bloomberg News Economists say at least $500 billion, if not more, is needed for state and local governments immediately. In a webinar hosted by the Economic Policy Institute on Friday,

Lauren Sobel, a municipal bond analyst at Bank of America the past three years, died tragically during a rock climbing accident in Gardiner, N.Y. this past weekend. The 25-year-old Sobel fell about 50 feet to her death on Sunday while climbing in the area of the Trapps Trailhead at the Mohonk Mountain Preserve around 60

Municipal buyers are looking ahead to a hefty new-issue calendar, which features a wide variety of deals ranging from a huge note sale out of Texas to multi-billion dollar deals from issuers in Georgia, New York City and Los Angeles. IHS Ipreo estimates volume for the week of Aug. 17 at $11.46 billion in a

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and Securities and Exchange Commission examiners discovered recurring deficiencies in the timeliness of conflict of interest disclosures, supervisory procedures and advertising issues in recent municipal advisor examinations. Regulators discussed those findings during an Aug. 13 webinar with the SEC, FINRA and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. Regulators said COVID-19 has changed

U.S. District Judge Mark H. Cohen terminated the lawsuit between Florida’s JEA, the city of Jacksonville, and Georgia’s MEAG Power, after a term sheet was posted in the case settling litigation over JEA’s contract to buy nuclear-generated power at Georgia’s Plant Vogtle. On Wednesday, Cohen ended the case with a signed order based on a

The Michigan State Building Authority hits the market as soon as next week with a deal to shed some floating-rate risks, bank interest rate savings and fund state capitol building upgrades. The deal offers $228 million of tax-exempt new money and refunding bonds and $561 million of federally taxable but state tax-exempt refunding. Another $33.3

Municipals made a U-turn and traded weaker on Wednesday with yields moving off record lows and rising by as much as four basis points on the AAA GO scales. However, ICI reported more than $3 billion of inflows in its latest statement. “Municipal bonds are sliding back again … but continuing to outperform Treasuries,” ICE

The New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Gov. Phil Murphy’s plan to issue bonds to offset massive COVID-19-related revenue losses meets the state’s constitutional debt requirements. The state’s high court decision was released Wednesday afternoon, a week after justices heard oral arguments via remote video about the constitutionality of debt legislation signed by Murphy

Ohio-based Huntington Capital Markets Inc. is making a greater banking push into Michigan as part of its post-Hutchinson Shockey acquisition strategy. The new team that started earlier this summer includes Lou Orcutt, a managing director and general government banker who will head up public finance in Michigan from a Detroit office. The expansion helps the

The Federal Reserve’s move to lower interest rates for its short-term municipal note purchase program isn’t likely to impact most issuers’ calculus in deciding whether or not to access it. Tuesday night, the Fed reduced interest rates of its Municipal Liquidity Facility in each credit category by 50 basis points. The reduced interest rates are

The Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday reduced the interest rates it charges for its Municipal Liquidity Facility. The program — authorized in March’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act — was created to ensure municipalites had market access amid the turmoil created by the coronavirus pandemic. The Federal Reserve announced a 50 basis point

U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. announced a plan to refinance the government’s $1.1 billion in speculative grade matching fund bonds Tuesday in an effort to address the government’s more than $3.35 billion in net pension liabilities. Bryan said he was calling the U. S. Virgin Islands Senate into session on Aug. 18 to

Municipals continued to show strength on Monday ahead of this week’s larger calendar. Yields on the AAA GO scales were steady to down as much as one basis point, continuing to entice issuers with record low rates. Back in March, the coronavirus pandemic led to the fastest sell-off in municipals on record — only to

Puerto Rico’s government, politicians, and people struggled with how to deal with a botched Sunday primary. Many voting places had ballots delivered several hours late or not at all on Sunday. According to the electoral coordinator for Eduardo Bhatia, candidate for governor in the Popular Democratic Party, only 38 of 110 voting precincts completed the

Orange County, Florida, faced with almost four lost months of hotel bed tax collections, used a reserve account to bolster the sinking fund that pays debt service on bonds issued for the Orange County Convention Center. Tourist development tax collections, also known as resort, hotel, or bed taxes, were $2,629,400 in June, a 89.2% decrease

Litigation seeking to void $14 billion of outstanding Illinois general obligation bonds remains alive after an appellate decision concluded the lower court erred in refusing to allow the taxpayer action to proceed. The Thursday opinion from the appellate panel came in a case first launched in July 2019 by Illinois Policy Institute head John Tillman,

Carbondale, Illinois — home of Southern Illinois University’s flagship campus — was slapped with a four-notch downgrade over budgetary and pension strains ahead of a $3.6 million refunding. S&P Global Ratings cut the rating to BBB-plus from AA-minus as the rating is capped due to the city’s structural imbalance. The outlook is stable. “The downgrade

Newly hired Long Island Power Authority Chief Financial Officer Tamela Monroe has arrived during a busy period for the public utility as it tackles aggressive infrastructure goals while grappling with financial challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Monroe, a utility veteran dating back to the early 1980s, was approved as LIPA CFO in late July

Two rating agencies weighed in on a recent California Supreme Court ruling in a pension reform case that could have had wider ramifications for a series of pension rulings, commonly referred to as the “California Rule,” which has created ironclad protections for government worker pensions. While Fitch Ratings said the ruling had no impact on

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Democrats offered to meet Republicans and the Trump administration halfway on the size of an emergency coronavirus relief package.Bloomberg News Local and state governments are facing the prospect of a long wait before any new federal aid is approved to help them meet budget shortfalls and increased expenses related to

Although the July nonfarm payrolls data surpassed market expectations, the smaller gain than last month suggests rough times ahead for the economy and a slower recovery. Nonfarm payrolls rose 1.763 million in July after increasing by 4.791 million the prior month. The unemployment rate declined to 10.2% in July from 11.1% in June, the Labor

Municipal bond buyers will see a slate of new deals that are made up of green bonds and taxable issues that focus on California, Minnesota and Florida issuers. IHS Ipreo estimates volume for the week of Aug. 10 at $8.7 billion in a calendar composed of $5.9 billion of negotiated deals and $2.9 billion of

Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board chair Ed Sisk will stay on for another year in a time of transition for the board. The MSRB announced the news Thursday afternoon following the Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of signficant changes to the board Wednesday night, including reducing the MSRB’s board size to 15 members from 21. “We

The rally in municipal bonds intensified Thursday, with yields dropping by as much as four basis points on the long end of the AAA scales. Even as yields moved lower, investors kept putting cash into municipal bond funds. Refinitiv Lipper reported $1.6 billion of inflows into muni mutual funds in the week ended Aug. 5,

Tennessee may join a handful of states offering businesses liability protection from employees and others who sue because of contracting the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Gov. Bill Lee has called a special session of the General Assembly starting Monday to consider legislation that offers limited immunity from liability to businesses, schools, nonprofit organizations, churches, academic

Municipals continued to rally on the long end Wednesday, with yields dropping by as much as two basis points on the AAA scales. Buyers saw more new issues come to market, which despite lowered yields were greeted with open arms. “When the market rally in early May pierced the 1% level in 10 years and

Puerto Rico fiscal year 2020 general fund revenues came in 10.7% short of a May 9, 2019, projection but 3.1% ahead of a May 27, 2020, projection. The Puerto Rico Treasury reported the results Wednesday. While the January earthquakes hurt collections, the governor’s order to close much of the economy from March to the present