Bonds

A preliminary deal to restructure more than $186 million taxable Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company bonds at 100% of original par was reached last week, which some sources suggest is a signal of a larger deal with parties in the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority negotiations. The Puerto Rico Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority

Fitch Ratings’ dim view of the nation’s political and fiscal landscape dealt an ancillary blow to America’s largest public utility this week when the Tennessee Valley Authority’s nearly $20 billion of power bonds were dropped a notch by Fitch following its downgrade of the U.S. sovereign rating on Tuesday. The TVA, a corporate agency of

Nearly two years after Texas laws banning state and local contracts with companies that “boycott” the fossil fuel industry or “discriminate” against firearm businesses took effect, investment banks are still struggling with compliance concerns. Wells Fargo is the latest bank to be scrutinized under the firearm law just weeks after being selected for a state

State and local governments are starting to appropriate billions of dollars flowing in from the offer of settlement made by three major pharmaceutical companies due to the opioid addiction crisis. The often quoted $26 billion figure is tied to an offer to settle unveiled in February 2022 by three large pharmaceutical opioid distributors, McKesson, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board said settlements in the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bankruptcy are near after they sought and received another deadline extension for filing its debt adjustment plans. “While the Oversight Board cannot guaranty further settlement will be attained, it continues to believe the prospects of at least one major settlement is

Municipals were steady Friday, sitting out a U.S. Treasury rally after the jobs report showed the labor market continues to cool. Equities ended the session down. Triple-A yields were largely unchanged across all curves while UST yields fell up to 15 basis points. Muni to UST ratios rose as a result. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio

Following Fitch Ratings downgrading the U.S. sovereign rating to AA-plus from AAA, the rating agency has downgraded certain municipal bonds tied directly to the creditworthiness of the country. Despite this, market participants say the muni market will see little impact. The bonds affected are “pre-refunded bonds whose repayments are wholly dependent on ‘AA+’-rated United States

Municipals sold off Thursday, following U.S. Treasury losses after more economic data suggested the U.S. economy is strong enough to potentially warrant more rate hikes in the fall. Equities ended down. Ahead of Friday’s jobs report, Wall Street is “watching a global bond market selloff get uglier as U.S. stocks waver ahead of massive earnings

Louisiana has tapped a consortium led by Plenary Americas as the private sector partner to negotiate a 50-year public-private partnership to replace the aging Calcasieu River bridge on Interstate 10. Calcasieu Bridge Partners is a joint venture of Plenary Americas US Holdings, Inc., which holds a 40% equity stake, and Sacyr Infrastructure USA LLC, and

Municipals were weaker Wednesday as investors digested another larger new-issue slate, August redemption dollars, better-than expected economic data and the Fitch downgrade to the United States’ rating. U.S. Treasury yields rose slightly out long and equities sold off. The weakness in munis and UST resulted partly from the ADP Employment Report that showed 324,000 jobs were

Fitch Ratings’ downgrade of the United States’ long-term foreign currency issuer default rating to AA-plus from AAA should have little impact on the muni market, but may be of wider concern for the economy overall, market participants say. While it’s still relatively early to tell how much munis will be impacted, Kara South, a municipal

Municipals were weaker in secondary trading to start August as several large deals took focus in the primary market. Munis slightly outperformed Treasury losses as the first round of August redemptions buoyed the market. Equities ended mixed. Triple-A yield curves were cut three to six basis points, depending on the scale, while UST yields rose

New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Sheila Oliver, the first Black woman to serve as the state’s Assembly speaker, has died, according to a statement from the governor’s office. Oliver, 71, had been serving as acting governor while Governor Phil Murphy was in Italy on vacation with his family. She was hospitalized this week for an unspecified

Municipals were lightly traded and mostly steady Monday while U.S. Treasuries were slightly firmer from Friday’s levels and equities closed in the black. With muni returns in positive territory to end the month and supply down 8% for the month and 16% for the year, the calendar flips to the final month of the muni

July municipal bond issuance fell 8% from 2022 as issuers dealt with another month of mixed macroeconomic concerns and rising interest rates, but the month saw the smallest drop in issuance year-over-year in 2023. July’s total volume was $25.939 billion in 542 issues, down from $28.258 billion in 619 issues a year earlier, and lower

Issuers have had to become creative to derive interest cost savings in the years since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 eliminated the tax-exempt advanced refunding option. A clear successor has yet to emerge, but rising interest rates, falling prices and fluctuating relative value prompted issuers to consider tender offers as a way

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has voted to move ahead with its controversial amendments to Rule G-14 on trade reporting, changing the trade reporting window to one minute from 15 minutes. That was approved during its quarterly board meeting that took place July 26-27, during which the board also approved a new $47 million budget

Hospitals, already facing multiple challenges, are being stressed by a heat wave that has hit a large swath of the United States, according to a Moody’s Investors Service analyst. A heat dome that initially impacted California and Texas has spread across most of the southwest and is also affecting some Northwest states like Idaho. An

Munis were weaker to close out the week, playing catch up to Thursday’s larger U.S. Treasury losses and preparing for a larger new-issue calendar led by billion-dollar issues from the New York Dormitory Authority and triple-A rated Minnesota, along with multiple large deals from Texas school districts. U.S. Treasuries were firmer Friday and equities rallied.

Environmental, social, and governance capital programs continue to flourish under increased scrutiny, said one presenter at a recent securities industry event. Climate change may be nothing new, said Trenton J. Allen, CEO of Sustainable Capital Advisors, but the “growing appetite” for suitably focused investments is, and issuers and investors alike can benefit from strategies to

Congress adjourned for its long summer break Thursday still far apart on top-line 2024 spending levels with only a few weeks left to reconcile the difference. There are also looming deadlines to pass a new farm bill and reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration. Congress faces a partial government shutdown if it hasn’t passed funding bills

Munis yields rose Thursday, following and outperforming a U.S. Treasury sell-off on the heels of strong-than-expected economic data. Equities ended down. Thursday’s “economic data offers the latest evidence that the U.S. economy is weathering the fastest rate hikes in a generation without much damage to the major gear-works of the economy,” said Wells Fargo Securities

The life and legacy of Bond Buyer reporter Yvette Shields was honored Tuesday with a proclamation introduced on the floor of the Illinois Senate. Introduced by Sen. Rob Martwick, D-Chicago, the proclamation pays homage to Shields as a “celebrated and beloved financial reporter” who “left behind an indelible mark on the public finance industry in

Munis were steady to weaker in spots Wednesday, while U.S. Treasuries were firmer after the Fed hiked rates 25 basis points and signaled more may come this year. Equities ended the session in the red. The Fed just “delivered a 25bps hike and by holding firm to their data dependent rhetoric and are trying to

A bigger basketball arena is being pushed by Oklahoma City’s mayor, who wants to put a plan that would include public and team funding before voters this year. Mayor David Holt spent most of his state of the city address last week laying out his case for replacing the city-owned Paycom Center, contending “no tax

Municipals were little changed in secondary trading Tuesday as the focus was on the primary where the state of Washington sold large general obligation bond deals ahead of the FOMC rates decision. Treasury yields rose a basis point or two throughout most of the curve and equities ended the session in the black. The two-year

The National Federation of Municipal Analysts has released best practices on Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, its first on the subject, which provides a roadmap for state and local governments as these investments become more essential to improving the infrastructure and quality of life around the country. “SRFs were selected because they

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s executive board last week approved a $15.7 billion capital plan for 2023 to 2028. Approximately 60% of capital spending called for is “focused on improving the reliability and resiliency” of the existing infrastructure, MassDOT chief Gina Fiandaca wrote in an introduction to the plan, with an additional 23% going towards

Abundant oil and natural gas-related taxes continue to flow into the coffers of Southwest states, which are positioned to weather volatile energy prices amid slower growth in overall tax revenue. Fitch Ratings in a recent report said it doesn’t expect any negative rating implications for energy producing states directly resulting from short-term declines in oil

BondWave LLC’s portfolio analytics suite, Effi, has introduced a new feature, Rules, where users can filter attributes of bonds in their portfolios.  Michael Ruvo, BondWave’s CEO, described Rules as an “overlay” to each portfolio, where users can apply criteria including 20 different portfolio constraints and almost 20 different objectives.  Through Rules, users can filter for