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Ohio for the first time can boast of a trifecta of triple-A ratings after S&P Global Ratings on Friday gave top marks to the state’s issuer and general obligation ratings. “The upgrades reflect our view of Ohio’s demonstrated commitment to active budget management and building and maintaining reserves through economic cycles,” said S&P analyst Rob

Municipals were steady Friday, ignoring weakness in the U.S. Treasury market after the jobs report came in hotter-than-expected. Equities ended up. The November payroll report “was stronger than Wall Street was expecting, and we are already seeing significant upward pressure on Treasury yields,” said Scott Anderson, chief U.S. economist and managing director at BMO Economics.

Moody’s Investors Service raised its outlook on U.S. nonprofit higher education sector to stable from negative on Thursday, citing expected narrowing gaps between expense and revenue growth. Also on Thursday, S&P Global Ratings affirmed its “bifurcated” outlook for the sector, which includes a negative outlook for less selective, more regional institutions without financial flexibility and

Alan Appelbaum, former managing director and head of Aegis Capital Corp.’s municipal bond desk, has agreed to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that he disregarded his obligations as a broker-dealer and violated antifraud provisions in his recommendation of certain variable interest rate structured products to seven investors. Without admitting or denying the findings, Applebaum,

California Gov. Gavin Newsom will need to close a $68 billion shortfall as he wraps up work on the proposed budget for fiscal 2024 that he will present to lawmakers in January. The upshot is that the flooding and massive storms that hit California in early 2023 and pushed income tax filings in the state

Texas and its public schools could face future budget pressures in the wake of last month’s passage of a constitutional amendment to decrease school property taxes, Fitch Ratings said Thursday. Proposition 4 was among 12 other constitutional amendments Texas voters approved Nov. 7 with many of the measures tapping surplus state money for tax relief

Municipals were slightly firmer Thursday as the last of the week’s large new-issues came and went while U.S. Treasuries were little changed and equities ended up ahead of Friday’s much-anticipated jobs report. Triple-A yields fell one to three basis points while USTs yields were relatively flat, only a basis point down out long. Relative value

About 33 years after former junk bond king Michael Milken pleaded guilty to multiple counts of securities and reporting violations, Richard Sandler, his personal attorney and a childhood friend, has published a book on the investigation to “set the record straight.” “I can’t change the fact I wrote it now, rather than years ago,” Sandler