Bonds

While pursuing his doctorate in economics at Columbia University, Oliver Giesecke came across several challenges as he was researching and collecting data on the muni market. Either it wasn’t available or it was incomplete or at times, misleading. In an effort to provide more and clearer data on certain attributes of the muni market, Giesecke,

With the acceleration of technology in all markets, firms are trying to create solutions to process data — from issuer offering documents and continuing disclosures to trades and pricing and evaluations — and turn it into digestible, usable forms. For an illiquid, over-the-counter market with more than 50,000 issuers and a million securities outstanding, challenges

Moody’s Investors Service affirmed its negative outlook on mass transit, highlighting Bay Area Rapid Transit as an example, even after the San Francisco rapid transit system announced it had received state funding. BART, a San Francisco Bay Area rapid transit system, announced on Wednesday that it would receive $352 million from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission

The Biden administration’s Build America Bureau expects to close on $19.5 billion worth of transportation infrastructure projects in the next 18 months, executive director Morteza Farajian said Tuesday at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials annual meeting in Indianapolis. “There’s a huge increase in the number of projects that we have in

While New York City’s $110.5 billion fiscal 2024 budget remains balanced, the costs associated with dealing with the influx of migrants will soar over the next several fiscal years, according to the November financial plan update released Thursday. So far, the city has already spent $1.45 billion in fiscal 2023 to provide food, shelter and

Municipals were firmer Thursday as a billion-plus dollar deal from the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority priced in the primary market and outflows continued. U.S. Treasury yields fell and equities ended down. Triple-A yields fell one to five basis points, depending on the scale, while UST were better by six to 10. The two-year

With an ever-changing landscape that now includes artificial intelligence, firms in the municipal market can be overwhelmed by the technology choices facing them, and their decisions will impact their bottom line. As new technology tools are developed will the current infrastructure become obsolete, requiring new investment? These questions and others have brought the build versus

Municipals were mostly steady Wednesday as investors worked through more new-issue paper in the primary while U.S. Treasuries lost ground after Tuesday’s rally. Equities were mixed near the close. The dust settled Wednesday following Tuesday’s rally, as municipals were flat, according to a New York trader.  “Everyone is reevaluating and taking a breather after the

The company responsible for meeting obligations on $250 million of green bonds issued in Alabama in 2022 may not be able to do so by December, it said in a recent disclosure filing. The Industrial Development Authority of Sumter County issued the exempt facilities revenue bonds to bankroll a production plant for wood pellet maker

Municipals were firmer across the curve, but underperformed a U.S. Treasury rally after a lower consumer price index report indicated the Federal Reserve may soon be done hiking rates. Equities also rallied. “The Fed looks smart for effectively ending its tightening cycle as inflation continues to slow,” said Bryce Doty, senior vice president and senior

A tranche of economic development revenue refinancing bonds issued by the Arkansas Development Finance Authority has been found to be taxable by the Internal Revenue Service. The ruling affects $5.43 million of paper issued by the ADFA in 2016.   The issuer has received notice from the IRS via form 5701-B that includes a proposed adverse determination,

Moody’s Investors Service revised its rating outlook for the Aaa-rated District of Columbia to negative Monday, matching its Friday action on the United States government. At the same time, the rating agency affirmed the Aaa issuer ratings and stable outlooks of Florida, Maryland and Virginia. The actions follow Friday’s outlook revision on the United States

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bond parties that oppose the Oversight Board’s proposed debt deal filed suits challenging part of the deal, asked for compensation for Puerto Rico central government’s actions since March 2022 and proposed an alternate bond deal. The parties filed the suits this weekend in the U.S. District Court for Puerto Rico

Municipals were little changed to close out a busy week in both the primary and secondary, while U.S. Treasury yields fell out long and equities rallied. “Although this round of muni market bullish reversal was pulled off one week later than Treasuries’, the rally progressed better,” said BofA strategists. The 10-year UST reached its peak

Puerto Rico’s upcoming gubernatorial and legislative elections may lead to a new governor but aren’t likely to change local policy significantly, observers say. At this stage, the main drama seems to be in the New Progressive Party governor’s primary, which sees Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón running against Gov. Pedro Pierluisi. As Resident

Anyone who thinks they understand what is happening in the economy — and what will happen — should think some more. The post-pandemic state of the economy is somewhat of a mystery, but a mystery worth exploring. Unemployment is a low 3.9%. Inflation is somewhere between 3.5% and 4.2% depending on which index is used.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has extended the suspension of his state’s gasoline tax for another month amid sustained high fuel costs. Kemp cited “ongoing economic hardships caused by rampant inflation” Wednesday when he signed an executive order foregoing Georgia’s 31.2 cents-per-gallon tax on gas and 35 cents-per-gallon tax on diesel for another month through Nov.

As the timeline for implementing the Financial Data Transparency Act grows shorter, the Securities and Exchange Commission is teaming up with other federal regulators in an attempt to allay fears about implementation.   “There’s no new disclosure requirements, standards or timelines, it’s just about structured data,” said Dave Sanchez, director of the SEC’s Office of Municipal

Municipals were mixed Thursday, largely sitting out another swing to higher yields in U.S. Treasuries after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank would not hesitate to hike interest rates further if needed. Equities sold off. Triple-A yields barely budged while USTs saw yields rise by 10 to 14 basis points following a

Voters in Maine rejected a much-debated proposal to replace the state’s two largest power providers with a public utility company in Tuesday’s election. Question 3 on the ballot, which asked voters to approve the state takeover of for-profit power providers Versant and Central Maine Power Company and the creation of a non-profit, publicly owned utility