The municipal market was mostly unchanged yesterday amid fairly light secondary-trading activity as the Thanksgiving holiday neared.
“There is some decent activity out there, all things considered, but I don’t really see much movement,” a trader in New York said. “We’re pretty flat. People are mostly on the sidelines, given that it’s a holiday week and all, but the people who want to get stuff done can get stuff done.”
“We’re doing some business. It’s a little slow, but certainly not a waste of time,” a second New York trader said. “It’s pretty much unchanged. The tone is still firm, but the improvement mostly came Friday and yesterday.”
“There isn’t a lot left to look forward to this week,” a trader in Los Angeles said. “We’re just sort of treading water until we get to the holiday, and then just looking towards next week, really.”
In the new-issue market yesterday, Loop Capital Markets priced $280 million of taxable highway revenue Build America Bonds for the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority.
The bonds mature in 2034, yielding 5.85% priced at par, or 3.80% after the 35% federal subsidy. The bonds were priced to yield 157 basis points over the comparable Treasury yield.
The credit is rated Aa3 by Moody’s Investors Service and AA-minus by both Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings.
Morgan Stanley priced $270.6 million of hospital revenue and refunding bonds for Michigan’s Royal Oak Hospital Finance Authority.
The bonds mature in 2010, 2013, from 2015 through 2021, and in 2023 and 2024, with term bonds in 2029 and 2039. Yields range from 1.90% with a 4% coupon in 2010 to 6.25% with a 6% coupon in 2039.
The bonds are callable at par in 2019, except bonds maturing from 2015 through 2020 and in 2023, 2024, and 2029, which are callable at par in 2014. The credit is rated A1 by Moody’s, A by Standard & Poor’s, and A-minus by Fitch.
JPMorgan priced $152.7 million of revenue anticipation certificates for Georgia’s Richmond County Hospital Authority.
The certificates mature from 2011 through 2019, with term bonds in 2024, 2029, and 2036. Yields range from 1.75% with a 3% coupon in 2011 to 5.73% with a 5.5% coupon in 2036.
The certificates, which are callable at par in 2019, are rated A1 by Moody’s and A-plus by Standard & Poor’s.
The Treasury market showed some gains yesterday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note opened at 3.35% and was quoted near the end of the session at 3.31%. The yield on the two-year note opened at 0.78% and was quoted near the end of the session at 0.74%. The yield on the 30-year bond was quoted near the end of the session at 4.25% after opening at 4.29%.
Yesterday’s Municipal Market Data triple-A scale yielded 2.81% in 10 years and 3.75% in 20 years after levels of 2.81% and 3.77%, respectively, on Monday. The scale yielded 4.29% in 30 years yesterday after Monday’s level of 4.31%.
As of Monday’s close, the triple-A muni scale in 10 years was at 83.1% of comparable Treasuries, 30-year munis were 99.8% of comparable Treasuries, and 30-year tax-exempt triple-A general obligation bonds were at 103.6% of the comparable London Interbank Offered Rate, according to MMD.
Trades reported by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board yesterday showed little movement. A dealer sold to a customer taxable California BABs 7.5s of 2034 at 7.40%, even with where they traded Monday. Bonds from an interdealer trade of insured Bexar County, Texas 5s of 2039 at 5.00%, even with where they were sold Monday.
A dealer bought from a customer taxable Illinois 5.1s of 2033 at 5.99%, even with where they traded Monday. Bonds from an interdealer trade of California Public Works Board 5.375s of 2024 yielded 5.45%, even with where they were sold Monday.
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board on Monday reported 42,773 trades of 14,830 separate issues for volume of $9.86 billion.
Most active was Ohio’s taxable American Municipal Power Inc. BABs 6.625s of 2034, which traded 108 times at a high of 102.875 and a low of 99.375.
Elsewhere in the new-issue market, Morgan Stanley priced $64.3 million of revenue bonds for the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York on behalf of New York University.
The bonds mature in 2034 and 2039, yielding 4.70% and 4.80%, respectively, both with 5% coupons.
The bonds, which are callable at par in 2019, are rated Aa3 by Moody’s and AA-minus by Standard & Poor’s.
The Florida Board of Governors competitively sold $28.9 million of taxable BABs to Morgan Keegan & Co. with a true interest cost of 6.656%.
The bonds mature from 2015 through 2026, with term bonds in 2029 and 2039. Coupons range from 4% in 2015, or 2.60% after the 35% federal subsidy, to 6.875% in 2039, or 4.47% after the subsidy. None of the bonds were formally re-offered.
The bonds, which are callable at par in 2019, are rated A1 by Moody’s, A-plus by Standard & Poor’s, and A by Fitch.
Also, Bank of America Merrill Lynch competitively sold $23.6 million of water and wastewater revenue certificates of participation for California’s Lake Arrowhead Community Services District.
The bonds mature from 2010 through 2029, with term bonds in 2034 and 2039. Yields range from 0.70% with a 2.5% coupon in 2010 to 5.50% with a 5.25% coupon in 2039.
The bonds, which are callable at par in 2019, are rated AA-minus by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch.
