Bonds

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board held the first of its two stakeholder meetings on Thursday, gathering trade groups representing the professionals from which the board derives its fees to discuss its now abandoned rate card model, the volatility of its fees and how many of its fees and expenses are allocated. According to both members

Property insurers’ growing reluctance to insure homes exposed to severe weather should raise a red flag for the municipal bond market, which so far has shrugged off risks but will soon have to grapple with major climate-driven shifts in credit quality and bond prices. That’s according to panelists who spoke Thursday during a webinar titled

Hawaii Department of Transportation airport division revenue bond ratings and bonds issued by the state backed by car rental fees were upgraded by Fitch Ratings, which cited full recovery on enplanements. Fitch upgraded the airport’s $1.7 billion in revenue bonds to AA-minus from A-plus and $111.6 million in certificates of participation to A-plus from A

Dealers are stepping up lobbying efforts and bringing the Municipal Bonds for America Coalition, a group headed by Bond Dealers of America, back into view as the tax debate begins again. The coalition, comprising investors, underwriters, municipal advisors, insurers and bond counsel has pounced on the idea of tax reform after President Biden made tax

Municipals were weaker Thursday, but outperformed U.S. Treasury market losses, as the final large deals of the week priced, including several housing issues. Equities ended down. Municipal bond mutual fund inflows continued for the third consecutive week as LSEG Lipper reported investors put $295.5 million into the funds for the week ending Wednesday with high-yield

IDEA Public Schools in Texas will operate under state oversight as part of a settlement agreement with the charter school network, which was the target of a probe since 2021 into alleged financial and operational improprieties. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) appointed two conservators to oversee and direct IDEA’s actions, facilitate a needs assessment, conduct

Municipals were little changed Wednesday as two billion-dollar-plus deals from the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York and CommonSpirit Health took focus. U.S. Treasuries were weaker and equities were mixed. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Wednesday was at 59%, the three-year at 59%, the five-year at 57%, the 10-year at 57% and the 30-year

Expansionary fiscal policy, Biden’s industrial policy and strong consumer spending are expected to outweigh higher interest rates and restrained growth, decreasing the likelihood of a recession in 2024, according to the UCLA Anderson Forecast. January’s drop in retail sales and housing starts was due more to the weather in the eastern U.S. than a pullback

Munis were steady as the primary market took focus with the $2.8 billion retail pricing from the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York. U.S. Treasuries were weaker and equities rallied after the Consumer Price Index showed inflation ticked up in February. Bond yields didn’t move much upon the CPI release, but Treasuries grew

President Joe Biden Monday proposed a fiscal 2025 budget that features a new capital program for airports, broadens the uses of capital transit dollars and chips away at a growing problem for states over the timing of the flow of highway funds. The Internal Revenue Service would see a funding infusion for enforcement, an issue

The National Football League’s Chicago Bears are pursuing plans to build a publicly owned domed stadium in Chicago, boosted by $2 billion of private funds.  The team has changed course after chasing a planned stadium development in Arlington Heights, a northwest suburb of Chicago, where talks were bogged down amid disagreements with three area school

Munis were steady Monday ahead of a large new-issue calendar, while U.S. Treasuries were weaker and equities ended mixed. Munis continue to see strong demand for bonds over the past several weeks, which has “pushed munis to be richer on a relative value basis versus Treasuries,” said Jason Wong, vice president of municipals at AmeriVet

Municipals were steady ahead of a larger new-issue calendar, while U.S. Treasuries and equities were mixed after a better-than-expected jobs report. High-yield and taxable munis outperformed this week, Bond Buyer 30-day visible supply grows to $13.27 billion with $9 billion plus of it pricing next week and opportunistic cash continues to sit on the sidelines.

As the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act nears its midpoint, the massive uptick in discretionary grants for transportation infrastructure threatens to undermine the law’s effectiveness because of chronic delays and bureaucratic confusion. That’s what county and state representatives told lawmakers Thursday during a House Transportation & Infrastructure hearing on the rollout of the IIJA’s discretionary

A routine change of leadership on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is looking more like a power struggle in a legislative body that carries weight in public finance policy and rulings. On Wednesday Rep. Rick Crawford ,R-Ark., formally announced he was running for the Chairmanship of the T&I Committee while Rep. Sam Graves,

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined NewEdge Securities, the brokerage arm of NewEdge Capital Group $90,000, in addition to restitution of $44,927.83 for charging unfair prices on 62 corporate bond transactions and six municipal bond transactions. Along with the fine and restitution, the firm has been censured for violating FINRA Rules 2121 and 2010,

President Biden reignited the tax debate in his State of the Union address Wednesday, touting the progress he’s made so far in his three years in office and the amount of work still needed to be done on taxes, setting up a larger partisan battle for the coming year. “The way to make the tax

One tool aimed at helping to solve California’s notorious affordable housing crisis appears to be headed for a crisis of its own. Defaults are rising on highly leveraged unrated workforce housing bonds, primarily issued over the last few years in California to purchase apartment buildings, when interest rates were near zero. So far, six out

A group of investors have challenged the legality of the Regents of the University of California’s ability to trigger an extraordinary redemption provision to refund their outstanding Build America Bonds. This may not be the last challenge as several issuers have made clear they intend to use the ERP to refund billions of their outstanding

Huntington National Bank has brought on Citi’s entire Midwest public finance banking group, with Samantha Costanzo being named head of public finance, the fourth woman to lead a municipal banking division in the industry. She will be based in Chicago. Jurl Vinegar and Rupi Jain are also joining as director of public finance and associate