Volume is expected to accelerate slightly this week, with $4 billion of negotiated and competitive deals on the calendar, compared with the revised $3.16 billion that ushered in the first week of February, according to Thomson Reuters.
Two of the week's largest deals will be centered in Texas, where offerings being priced by JPMorgan will vie for investors' attention.
The larger of the two deals is a $293.9 million Dallas revenue refunding and improvement bond issue for the city's civic center convention complex. The deal, which will be priced tomorrow, is expected to be insured by Assured Guaranty Corp. and is structured to mature serially from 2011 to 2029 with term bonds in 2034 and 2038.
Texas A&M University will bring $250 million of revenue debt to market on Thursday. The deal has ratings of Aa1 from Moody's Investors Service and AA-plus from Fitch Ratings, but was still awaiting a rating from Standard & Poor's at press time on Friday.
The deal is expected to be structured with serial bonds maturing from 2010 to 2029 although the structure of the term bonds was still being hammered out on Friday, according to the JPMorgan.
In the Southeast, meanwhile, two deals - one a higher-education financing and the other a general obligation sale - will jump-start supply in North Carolina.
The North Carolina Capital Facilities Finance Agency is planning to sell $255 million of revenue and refunding debt on behalf of Duke University when JPMorgan prices the deal on Wednesday.
Rated Aa1 by Moody's and AA-plus by Standard & Poor's, the deal will consist of a single term bond in 2038. Proceeds will be used to refund a portion of outstanding commercial paper notes and pay costs associated with the renovation of the university's west campus.
Also on Wednesday, Mecklenburg County, N.C., will sell $255 million of GO refunding bonds priced by Wachovia NA. Structured to mature serially from 2009 to 2020, the bonds currently have natural triple-A underlying ratings from all three major rating agencies.
Just three other sizable deals are expected this week in the negotiated market, including a $237.4 million GO sale from Rutgers State University in New Jersey that Morgan Stanley plans to price tomorrow. The deal is expected to be structured with term bonds in 2034 and 2039, according to the preliminary official statement, and the bonds have ratings of Aa3 from Moody's and AA from Standard & Poor's.
In the Far West, Banc of America Securities LLC is planning to price a $229.4 million of tax-exempt and taxable certificates of participation issued by Oregon tomorrow after conducting a retail order period today. Proceeds will be used for various projects by the state's Department of Administrative Services.
The larger series includes $214 million of tax-exempt COPs maturing serially from 2010 to 2028, with term maturities in 2033 and 2039, while the $15.2 million series of taxable COPs is tentatively structured to mature serially from 2010 to 2025.
An underwriter on Friday said the taxable portion is initially being marketed with an all-serial structure, but term maturities could be created to fit institutional demand when the deal come to market. The bonds are rated Aa3 by Moody's and AA-minus by Fitch and Standard & Poor's.
The San Diego Regional Building Authority, meanwhile, is also expected to make an appearance this week with a $142.5 million lease revenue sale to finance a county operation center and annex redevelopment project.
The Series 2009 A bonds - which are structured to mature from 2012 to 2036 - are being priced by Goldman, Sachs & Co. on Wednesday, following a retail order period tomorrow. They are rated A1 by Moody's, AA-plus by Standard & Poor's, and AA by Fitch.
The single sizable competitive deal over $100 million on the calendar this week is a $101.8 million sale of new and refunding debt from gilt-edged Baltimore that is expected tomorrow in three series.
A $48.1 million series of refunding bonds is structured to mature from 2009 to 2015, while a $28.3 million series of public improvement refunding bonds is slated to mature from 2009 to 2018. A $25.3 million series of metropolitan district revenue bonds is also expected to mature from 2009 to 2018.
The week's activity pales in comparison to last week, when the largest deal was a $950 million Los Angeles Unified School District GO sale that was priced by Barclays Capital with a final maturity in 2034 and carried a 5% coupon and 5.35% yield. The bonds were 58 basis points cheaper, or higher in yield, than the triple-A yield curve scale in 2034 at the time of the pricing last Wednesday, according to Municipal Market Data.
The generic, triple-A GO due in 2039 closed at a 4.76% yield at the end of trading on Friday, which was down from 4.77% on Thursday, 4.82% on Wednesday, 4.88% on Tuesday, and a high of 4.95% on Monday, according to MMD.
