Bonds

Lynn Martin, president & COO of ICE Data Services, also owner of the New York Stock Exchange, talks about ICE’s role in pricing, its municipal evaluation services and just how the municipal market itself is resilient. Chip Barnett, senior markets reporter hosts with another Lynn(e), innovation editor at The Bond Buyer.

Municipals ended little changed on Wednesday after spending most of the day treading water while traders waited for the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting to end. The market held in as anticipation builds for the New York Dormitory Authority’s $3.3 billion revenue anticipation note deal, municipal players said. The municipal market appeared “quite firm due

The Summary of Economic Projections, released Wednesday, shows Federal Open Market Committee members expect the fed funds rate target to remain at zero lower bound through next year, with all but two participants expecting no rate hikes in 2022 as well. One member expects rates to jump a full point in 2022, while the other

Howard Sitzer, a senior analyst of municipals at CreditSights and a fixture in the muni bond world, is remembered for his deep knowledge, his industry relationships and his personal touch. Sitzer died suddenly on Saturday at the age of 68. He was buried the following day in a small funeral. He leaves his wife, Reba,

A bounty of municipal bonds priced into a falling-yield environment on Tuesday. Issuers and buyers alike kept one eye on the Federal Open Market Committee, which began its two-day monetary policy meeting on Tuesday. While the FOMC isn’t expected to make any rate changes, participants will be watching its release of economic projections and the

The U.S. labor market has continued to heal at a relatively rapid rate through early June, St. Louis Federal Reserve researchers found, using real-time data that provides a more timely view than official government reports. Employment has fallen about 8.75% in the week ended June 5 from January levels, making up almost half the decline

Southern Co.’s long-troubled project to expand its Vogtle nuclear plant in Georgia is “highly unlikely” to meet state deadlines and is apt to face additional budget overruns, according to a local monitor. The company is no longer on pace to complete the two reactors by November 2021 and November 2022 deadlines approved by the Georgia

Municipal bond buyers are eagerly awaiting this week’s rather hefty — for 2020 at least — new-issue calendar that’s filling up with deals that had been formerly on the day-to-day slate. Action kicks off Tuesday, with a bevy of large taxable and Texas deals. New York City reopened its doors slightly Monday for a Phase

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve is making a number of last-minute changes to a middle-market loan program in an apparent bid to boost its appeal among prospective participants. The Fed on Monday announced new flexibility on loan amounts for qualifying businesses, and that the central bank increase its stake to 95% on all loans made

In the movie, Field of Dreams, there is a repeating line: “If you build it, he will come.” With minor modifications, “If you open it, they will come,” is a perfect descriptor of expected economic conditions around the world. The contagious COVID-19 virus caused a global rolling economic shutdown as the virus spread, which ultimately

Bond insurers argued with the Puerto Rico Oversight Board on Thursday as to whether Puerto Rico revenue bonds’ pre-bankruptcy conditions shield them from bankruptcy impairment. The parties made their arguments in the second day of an omnibus hearing in the Title III bankruptcies for several Puerto Rico bond types. The hearing was held telephonically and

The Queens Ballpark Co. LLC bonds issued to build Citi Field, the home of baseball’s New York Mets, received a downgrade to BB-plus from BBB Thursday from S&P Global Ratings, which cited operational disruptions from COVID-19. Major League Baseball, which traditionally opens in late March-early April, has yet to begin play this season. Baseball executives

Monday’s planned Phase I reopening of New York City will put the city and the transit system that serves it — the Metropolitan Transportation Authority — in a national spotlight. Their fortunes have long interwoven. The state-run MTA, which intends to restore full service on Monday, has been operating with skeletal ridership since the COVID-19

Friday’s employment report , which showed jobs were added and the unemployment rate fell, offered optimism the economy will bounce sooner than originally thought. Nonfarm payrolls rose 2.509 million in May after falling 20.687 million a month earlier. The unemployment rate declined to 13.3% in May from 14.7% in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is filing for approval to reduce the size of its governing board to 15 members from the current 21 and to extend to five years the “cooling off” period for bankers and muni advisors seeking seats as members of the public. The MSRB announced Friday it would seek Securities and

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board directed Gov. Wanda Vázquez to cut 5.2% from her proposed expenditures for the coming fiscal year. Board Executive Director Natalie Jareskosaid in a letter to the governor on Monday that Vázquez’s May 8 proposed fiscal year budget was inconsistent with the board’s May 27-approved fiscal plan. Puerto Rico Senator José

Municipal bond issuers are lining up to tap the recovering primary as the upcoming week is set to see almost $9 billion of new supply hit the market. There are nearly 20 deals on the negotiated calendar over $100 million, with the largest a $3.5 billion revenue anticipation note offering from the Dormitory Authority of

States are adopting their 2021 budgets for the fiscal year that begins July 1 with the assumption there will be no new federal aid because of uncertainty whether the U.S. Senate will act. That was the message during a webcast Friday by members of the National Conference of State Legislatures who said the delay by

Members of the Government Finance Officers Association are encouraging municipalities to disclose to investors financial woes caused by the coronavirus pandemic, noting it could help them when they go to market. During a Thursday GFOA webinar to discuss disclosure during the COVID-19 pandemic, David Erdman, Wisconsin’s public finance director, said the pandemic could be issuers’

After an impressive rally in May, municipal participants have hit a pause button, particularly as U.S. Treasury yields rise, pushing municipal to UST relative value ratios lower. “Instead, it appears the focus has shifted to primary offerings, which are being well received and seeing strong demand at the expense of secondary market flows,” said Greg

The YMCA of Topeka, Kansas, is seeking to reorganize under Chapter 11 bankruptcy as others across the country try to survive with skeleton crews amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Topeka Y owes $5.26 million to bondholders represented by trustee CoreFirst Bank & Trust, according to the May 21 chapter 11 filing. The 2011 industrial revenue

Federal Reserve action to keep credit flowing rewards risky behavior and the remedy may be tougher regulation in the future, said former New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley. “People who have high-yield debt that’s outstanding, a lot of times that’s happened by choice,” he told Bloomberg Television Wednesday. “So for the Federal Reserve

After several years of rating upgrades, the Chicago Public Schools face a tougher road back to investment grade due to the fiscal turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that dampens state aid prospects and future property tax values, Moody’s Investors Service warns in a report. For years the district struggled with billion-dollar deficits, turning to

The new issue market continued to do well, as evidenced by the strong demand for Wednesday’s deals, market particuipants said Wednesday. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority deal and California’s West Contra Costa Unified School District deal in California set the tone, according to Rick Marrone, senior portfolio manager at Washington Cross Advisors in San Francisco.

The Bond Buyer is excited to kick off the fifth-annual Rising Stars program, showcasing the brightest young minds in the municipal bond industry. The goal of the initiative: Identify municipal finance professionals under the age of 40 whose knowledge, collaborative spirit, innovation, and creativity have enabled them to make a positive contribution to the community

Illinois will borrow $1.2 billion of one-year, general obligation backed notes through the Federal Reserve’s Municipal Liquidity Facility, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration announced Tuesday. It is the first municipal issuer to use the up to $500 billion lending program the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury announced in April as the economy shuddered under the impact

Moody’s Investors Service revised the outlook on Nevada’s Aa1 rating to negative from stable Tuesday, citing the impact of the coronavirus crisis. The action affects $1.075 billion in bonds: $1 billion of Aa1-rated general obligation bonds and $75 million of lease revenue certificates of participation, rated Aa2. “The negative outlook on the GO bonds and

Two major Midwest not-for-profit hospital mergers have fallen apart amid turmoil roiling the healthcare industry and state governments. A plan among four hospitals to form a new system for South Side Chicago unraveled after Illinois lawmakers adjourned last week without providing needed financial support amid budget strains caused by the COVID-19 pandemic’s drain on state

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Fixed Income Market Structure Advisory Committee is recommending that regulators explore ways to improve pre-trade transparency in the municipal market, a proposal that has received cautious approval from the dealer community. FIMSAC’s Municipal Securities Transparency Subcommittee provided that preliminary recommendation during the advisory committee’s virtual meeting Monday, FIMSAC’s second meeting

While tax-exempt yields rose slightly Monday, some investors questioned the market’s reaction to ongoing national crises and the associated impact on state and local government finances. The short end of the curve sold off by three basis points, per triple-A benchmarks. Part of that had to do with the rally that occurred during May that