The municipal market was unchanged to slightly firmer yesterday, as California priced for retail $2 billion of general obligation debt, and the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority came to market with $500 million of taxable Build America Bonds.
In the new-issue market, JPMorgan priced for retail investors $2 billion of GOs for California.
The bonds mature from 2011 through 2030, with term bonds in 2033, 2035, and 2040. Yields range from 1.20% with a 2% coupon in 2012 to 5.72% with a 5.625% coupon in 2035. Bonds maturing in 2011 will be decided via sealed bid. Bonds maturing in 2030, 2033, and 2040 were not offered during the retail order period.
The bonds, which are callable at par in 2020, are rated Baa1 by Moody’s Investors Service, A-minus by Standard & Poor’s, and BBB by Fitch Ratings.
Meanwhile, Jefferies & Co. priced $500 million of taxable BABs for the MWFA.
The BABs contain a split maturity in 2042, yielding 6.01% and 6.49%, or 3.91% and 4.22%, respectively, after the 35% federal subsidy. Both are priced at par. The 6.01s contain a make-whole call at Treasuries plus 30 basis points. The 6.49s are callable at par in 2020. The bonds were priced to yield 131 and 179 basis points over the comparable Treasury yield, respectively. The credit is rated Aa3 by Moody’s, AA-plus by Standard & Poor’s, and AA by Fitch.
Traders said tax-exempt yields in the secondary market were flat to slightly lower.
“There is definitely a little bit of firmness out there,” a trader in Los Angeles said. “I’m not really sure it’s enough to bump the scale, but here and there you can definitely grab a basis point, maybe two, maybe even three.”
“There is some decent activity out in the secondary, but I’m not seeing much movement,” a trader in New York said. “We’re pretty much just flat. There is a bit of a firmer tone, but I’d say we’re just flat at this point.”
The Treasury market showed some gains yesterday. The benchmark 10-year note finished with a yield of 3.70% after opening at 3.71%. The yield on the two-year finished at 0.88% after opening at 0.89%. The yield on the 30-year bond finished at 4.67% after opening at 4.69%.
The Municipal Market Data triple-A scale yielded 2.80% in 10 years and 3.79% in 20 years yesterday, following Monday’s levels of 2.81% and 3.79%. The scale yielded 4.15% in 30 years yesterday, matching Monday’s level.
Monday’s triple-A muni scale in 10 years was at 75.7% of comparable Treasuries and 30-year munis were at 88.9%, according to MMD, while 30-year tax-exempt triple-A GOs were at 92.8% of the comparable London Interbank Offered Rate.
Elsewhere in the new-issue market yesterday, the Florida State Board of Education competitively sold $421.4 million of taxable and tax-exempt bonds in two series, including $169.3 million of taxable BABs.
Barclays Capital won the $252.1 million tax-exempt series with a true interest cost of 3.42%. The bonds mature from 2011 through 2022, with yields ranging from 0.93% with a 5% coupon in 2013 to 3.38% with a 5% coupon in 2022. Bonds maturing in 2011, 2012, and 2018 were not formally re-offered.
The $169.3 million of BABs were won by JPMorgan. Pricing information was not available by press time, but coupons range from 4.35% in 2018 to 6% in 2039.The credit is rated Aa1 by Moody’s, AAA by Standard & Poor’s, and AA-plus by Fitch.
Goldman, Sachs & Co. priced $383.4 million of taxable Project P BABs for the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia. The BABs mature in 2057, yielding 7.06%, or 4.59% after the 35% federal subsidy. The bonds were priced to yield 237.5 basis points over the comparable Treasury yield. The credit is rated Baa2 by Moody’s and A-minus by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch.
San Francisco competitively sold $350.4 million of debt over two issues, including $209.5 million of taxable BABs.
The BABs were sold to Bank of America Merrill Lynch in two series. Bonds from the larger $173.8 million series mature from 2020 through 2030, with yields ranging from 4.60% in 2020, or 2.99% after the 35% federal subsidy, to 6.26% in 2030, or 4.07% after the subsidy. The bonds were priced to yield between 90 and 205 basis points over the comparable Treasury yields.
Bonds from the $35.6 million series mature from 2020 through 2030, with yields ranging from 4.60% in 2020, or 2.99% after the 35% federal subsidy, to 6.26% in 2030, or 4.07% after the subsidy. The bonds were priced to yield between 90 and 205 basis points over the comparable Treasury yields.
The $140.9 million of tax-exempt debt was also sold to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, in two series. Bonds from the larger $117 million series mature from 2010 through 2019, with yields ranging from 0.45% with a 5% coupon in 2011 to 2.89% with a 4.75% coupon in 2019. Bonds maturing in 2010, 2012, 2014, and from 2016 through 2018 were sold and not available.
Bonds from the $24 million series mature from 2010 through 2019, with yields ranging from 0.45% with a 5% coupon in 2011 to 2.09% with a 5% coupon in 2016. Bonds maturing in 2010, from 2012 through 2014, and from 2017 through 2019 were sold and not available.
The bonds, which are not callable, are rated Aa2 by Moody’s, AA by Standard & Poor’s, and AA-minus by Fitch.
Southwest Securities priced $71.2 million of taxable BABs for Texas’ Hallsville Independent School District.
The BABs mature from 2017 through 2030, with yields ranging from 3.83% in 2017, or 2.49% after the 35% federal subsidy, to 5.61% in 2030, or 3.65% after the subsidy. The bonds were priced to yield between 40 and 150 basis points over the comparable Treasury yields. The bonds are backed by the Texas Permanent School Fund guarantee program. The underlying credit is rated A3 by Moody’s and A-plus by Standard & Poor’s.
Illinois, which was set to competitively sell $356 million of debt later this week, postponed the sale to give the municipal market time to review Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget speech and 2011 budget, market sources indicated. The deal has been rescheduled for April 6.
