Bonds

Munis largely ignored a U.S. Treasury sell-off as reports that some troubled banks were getting new funding helped calm investors’ concerns about a global banking crisis. Equities rallied on the news. Triple-A benchmarks were bumped up to five basis points, depending on the scale, while UST yields rose 10 to 25 basis points 10 years

A Biden administration proposal aimed at providing relief for transit agencies struggling with anemic ridership would benefit large agencies but could pressure smaller ones, local transit officials told a Senate panel Wednesday. President Joe Biden’s fiscal year 2024 budget, unveiled last week, would free up $6.7 billion in so-called 5307 urbanized area grant formula grants

The influx of cash from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is creating opportunities and challenges for state transit agencies which must find matching funds, navigate politic turmoil and compete against other municipal programs to keep improving their infrastructure. A group of three state transit officials discussed those challenges at this week’s American Public Transportation

Moody’s Investor’s Service raised the outlook on the A. B. Won Guam International Airport senior revenue bonds Baa2 rating to stable from negative Wednesday. Moody’s Lead Analyst William Oh said the improved outlook stemmed from Moody’s expectation that enplanement levels will continue to improve because South Korea and Japan have lifted COVID-19-related travel restrictions. The

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has advanced a number of regulatory initiatives including filing proposed amendments with the Securities and Exchange Commission on MSRB Rule G-12 on uniform practice, Rule G-15 on uniform practices for transactions, as well as moving forward with their draft amendments on MSRB Rule G-32 on primary offering disclosures and extending

Illinois drew a fresh rating upgrade Tuesday for making further progress in tackling its chronic fiscal sore spots. Moody’s Investors Service raised Illinois’ general obligation and sales tax-backed Build Illinois bonds by one notch to A3 from Baa1 and assigned a stable outlook. The upgrade also lifts the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority’s rating one

The Federal Reserve’s top regulator will lead a probe of its supervision activity that preceded the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history, the central bank announced Monday. Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr will conduct a review of the regulation and supervision activity applied to Santa Clara, Calif.-based Silicon Valley Bank, which was shut

Wisconsin heads into the market Tuesday with a new money and refunding transportation issue against a backdrop of debate over how to spend a record $7 billion surplus, with the legislature’s Republican majority in the driver’s seat. The size of the borrowing is in flux and dependent on market technicals Tuesday when the deal is

Municipals were firmer to end the week, outperforming a U.S. Treasury rally after the employment report revealed more jobs than expected were added in February. Equities sold off. Triple-A benchmark yields were bumped five to 10 basis points, depending on the curve, while U.S. Treasury yields fell 20 to 31 basis points, pushing the five-,

President Biden’s proposed budget unveiled Thursday includes the lowering of the private activity bond threshold for Low Income Housing Tax Credits to 25% from 50% and muni lobbyists, though skeptical about the prospects of the budget passing as is, say they will work hard to include the provision in any final budget. “While the President’s

The private partner in a prominent Maryland public-private partnership dropped out Thursday, citing environmental delays, lawsuits, and disagreements with the state, in a move that leaves the fate of the country’s largest P3 in doubt. Australia-based toll road operator Transurban, the lead partner in a consortium known as Accelerate Maryland Partners, said it had submitted

Underwriters completed pricing Thursday of a $3.52 billion Texas securitization deal for natural gas providers, but the bonds may stay in investors’ hands only for a short time. The Texas Senate Finance Committee advanced a supplemental appropriations bill Wednesday that includes money to pay off the bonds and possibly debt incurred by other utilities as

A project to repair a berth at the Port of Camden in New Jersey will receive a boost of support from this fiscal year’s federal omnibus spending bill. U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross, a Democrat whose district includes Camden, recently announced an additional $750,000 in federal funds to support work on long-neglected portions of the South

Fitch Ratings upgraded Orlando, Florida’s $166.925 million of Series 2017A senior tourist development tax revenue bonds to BBB from BBB-minus. The outlook on the bonds is stable. The bonds are a limited obligation of the city backed by a senior lien on 50% of the “6th-cent TDT,” which is a one-cent tax on hotel room

Municipals were firmer on the front end of the curve as more billion-dollar deals priced, while Treasuries rallied hard inside 10 years and equities sold off. The potential for a strong employment report, which would amp up belief of a 50-basis-point move by the Federal Open Market Committee later this month, and higher for longer

President Joe Biden unveiled a 2024 budget Thursday that raises taxes on high earners and large corporations while providing relief for struggling urban mass transit systems and sending money to states and locals for climate resiliency projects. The proposal totals $6.9 trillion, up from last year’s $6.4 trillion of federal spending. Discretionary spending would total

Municipals were little changed in secondary trading Wednesday amid an active primary market with two billion-dollar deals priced, although details on one were not immediately available. U.S. Treasury yields were weaker in spots and equities ended mixed. The three-year muni-UST ratio was at 59%, the five-year at 61%, the 10-year at 66% and the 30-year

Illinois expects another $575 million of general fund revenues in the current fiscal year as steady income and sales tax collections through February pushed worries over an economic slowdown and the impact of a potential recession further out on the horizon.   The legislature’s non-partisan Commission on Forecasting and Accountability raised its estimate for revenues

Municipals were a little firmer in spots Tuesday, while equities and short-term U.S. Treasuries sold off after Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell suggested interest rates could be hiked higher than expected to combat inflation. The two-year UST yield rose 13 basis points, pushing it above 5% for the first time since June 2007. The

The municipality that is home to the American Dream mall in New Jersey is suing its operator, saying it failed to make agreed upon payments in lieu of taxes. East Rutherford’s lawsuit, filed Friday in New Jersey Superior Court, asserts that despite pulling in “hundreds of millions of dollars” in revenue since opening in 2019,