Bonds

Wayne State University heads into the market this week with two new negative rating outlooks as the COVID-19 pandemic and potential state aid cuts add to governance and medical school challenges confronting the Detroit-based school. The taxable issue for $115 million of general revenue bonds from the Board of Governors of WSU is currently slated

Municipals were little changed on Monday, finishing out the day steady in quiet trading ahead of the week’s hefty new issue supply slate. About $14 billion of new deals are slated to hit the market, with almost $5 billion of that total being taxables. Municipals rallied across the curve last week, according to Wells Fargo

The State University of New York will sell a $328.5 million refinancing deal to create near-term financial flexibility to offset expected declines in student housing revenue stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. SUNY is scheduled to sell the federally taxable dormitory facilities revenue bonds Tuesday through the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York. Proceeds

Billions of dollars worth of transportation projects are being delayed or canceled across the country as state and local governments make spending cuts due to the coronavirus pandemic. Fourteen states and 19 local authorities have delayed or canceled road, transit and airport projects worth $8.58 billion, according to a report released this week by the

Shut down for months by the coronavirus pandemic, some Atlantic City casinos may fail, which would worsen the city’s shaky financial condition. The junk-rated city’s nine casinos reopened in early July — limited to 25% of capacity and prohibited from serving food or drinks — nearly four months after they were forced to close under

While it is clear the economy is improving, although the reopening is not going as well as thought, the recovery is likely to be a stair step one rather than V-, U- or W-shaped, analysts say. “Whether it is a V-shaped recovery or any of the alphabet soup predictions, the economy is improving,” said Nancy

The San Diego County Water Authority’s decision to do a forward delivery on one of two series for a $400 million refunding paid off with the water wholesaler realizing $67.4 million in savings. The water authority decided to explore what has become a more frequent option used by issuers since tax-exempt advance refundings were eliminated

The municipal market was in a state of disarray in March due to a “rush to safety” but has recovered sharply over the past few months. Money has flowed back to municipal bond funds, rates have decreased to historical lows and bond issuance has risen. It has been a quick and remarkable turnaround, at least

Financial challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic have not slowed long-term capital initiatives at some of the nation’s largest public power utilities. “Our board, despite the economic times, is not giving me any breaks in terms of what they expect us to achieve,” Long Island Power Authority CEO Tom Falcone said Thursday during a digital

As the summer reinvestment season heats up, buyers will see a large slate of new sales in the upcoming week, led by issuers in New York, Texas, Maryland and Virginia, which are dominated by taxable offerings. There will be nearly $14 billion of new issues in the height of the summer as issuers clamour for

WASHINGTON — The Senate Banking Committee has scheduled a vote to advance a controversial Federal Reserve Board nominee to the full Senate floor. The committee will vote July 21 on the nomination of Judy Shelton, who has been an economic adviser to President Trump and whose views have aroused concerns among both Democrats and Republicans.

Wide-spread mask wearing and following other health-care measures will be vital to economic growth in the U.S., said Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan. “While monetary and fiscal policy have a key role to play, the primary economic policy from here is broad mask wearing and good execution of these health-care protocols,” Kaplan

The north suburban Chicago-based NorthShore University HealthSystem will extend its reach further into the northwest suburbs with the acquisition of independently operated Northwest Community Healthcare. The two announced the agreement for Northwest Community to join the five-hospital NorthShore system Wednesday and said they expect to close the transaction later this year pending state and federal

Despite stresses on the public finance sector in a pandemic-driven recession, Hilltop Securities expects to announce more hires this year after a major expansion of asset management offices in California, Minnesota and Texas. Brad Winges chief executive of Hilltop Securities “We’re definitely in growth mode, whether people are working remotely or not,” Brad Winges told

Municipal bond buyers saw a last wave of new supply flow into the market on Thursday. For the ninth week in a row, investors put cash into municipal bond funds as Refinitiv Lipper reported $1.02 billion inflow into the funds in the week ended July 8. Munis remained stronger in light trading activity as buyers

The COVID-19 pandemic is far from over and it looks like it will continue to plague the country for longer than anyone expected. “There is still a lot to do and it looks as though this will be around much longer than we thought,” said Raphael Bostic, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Transit Innovation Partnership have launched a “COVID-19 response challenge” to engage the private tech industry and rapidly evaluate and deploy innovative technologies that make public transit safer in light of the pandemic. “To truly modernize every element of how we run our transit system, you have to look

The state-ordered temporary closure of a North Dakota county’s debt-financed jail for procedural violations — that came to light after the death of a person in custody — poses new threats to the county’s already speculative grade ratings. Rolette County had previously included an appropriation in its budget to cover a $377,000 late-July rental payment

Chicago is working on two refunding transactions including a second general obligation refinancing that would help plug a $700 million COVID-19-induced budget hole. Chicago counted on about $210 million in expected savings from its nearly $1.5 billion January sale of general obligation refunding bonds and Sales Tax Securitization Corp. debt to help eliminate an $838

Municipal market players saw a bevy of notes and bonds price into a strong environment where issuers took advantage of low rates and buyers with reinvestment cash snapped up the new deals. The post-holiday climate in the municipal market reflected strength as yields fell slightly amid an ongoing hearty appetite for new paper. “For the

Oklahoma’s June revenue fell nearly 5% below the same month last year, though it still rebounded from May levels, Treasurer Randy McDaniel said. Total receipts in June topped $1.1 billion, which was still below collections from June 2019 by $56.4 million. That was dramatically better than April when receipts were down nearly 32% and it

Municipal bond buyers look forward to this week’s new-issue slate of bonds, which has a focus on taxable deals and Far West issuers. Investors continue to have faith in the muni market as they invested billions in bond funds for the eighth week in a row. Municipal bond prices were little changed ahead of the

The third of three stories marking the anniversary of PROMESA. The future of Puerto Rico is cloudy. The economy has been in decline for all but two years since 2006, the government is loaded with debt, much of it in default, and competing forces are litigating its future. For the territory to improve, sources said

Texas sales tax collections of $2.67 billion for June showed improvement over the previous month but fell 6.5% below revenues collected in June 2019, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar reported. It was the third consecutive monthly decline compared to 2019’s levels, reflecting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on virtually every category of business. So far,

Massachusetts transportation officials have spent nearly six years trying to thread a needle and now time is running short. “The time has come to make a decision, not study alternatives in perpetuity,” state transportation Commissioner Stephanie Pollack said of the Allston Multimodal Project at the June 22 joint meeting of the Department of Transportation and

Thursday’s employment report exceeded expectations, as jobs were added and the unemployment rate fell for the second month in a row. This news shows improvements in the labor market reflected in the continued resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed in March and April due to COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to contain it. The

The second of three stories marking the anniversary of PROMESA. Among the observers concerned over the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act and the Oversight Board it created, a few advocate changing the law, and some even want it abolished. However, most participants noted that because of the current climate in Washington, in

The chair of the Senate’s powerful Finance Committee said he is open to discussing more flexibility for how states and localities access federal aid, though he is skeptical that issuers actually need the aid they are asking for. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R- Iowa, made those comments Wednesday on the Senate floor, casting doubt on the

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s decision to issue $1.1 billion in taxable notes this week underscores multi-year revenue challenges confronting the bi-state agency. Citi priced the three-year notes in a negotiated deal Tuesday. The Port Authority plans to use proceeds to pay debt service on outstanding consolidated bonds. The notes, which

Puerto Rico bankruptcy Judge Laura Taylor Swain rejected three related claims of bondholder liens on broad categories of commonwealth revenues, likely resulting in nearly $7 billion of outstanding debt paying pennies on the dollar. This also could result in a knock-on effect for other bond types of Puerto Rican debt. The judge’s decision is also