Chip Barnett is a journalist with almost 50 years of professional experience. He started his career at the Gannett Newspapers in Westchester County, N.Y., working his way up from back-shop compositor to Senior News Editor. Barnett later worked for Thomson Reuters in Manhattan, covering state and local government finance as a Reporter and later Executive Editor for TM3.com and as Editor in Charge of Municipal Finance for Reuters News. Later, he was the Editor of Municipal Finance Today at SourceMedia. Barnett has also worked for DebtWire/Municipals and has written about commercial real estate in South Florida and the Midwest for both The Real Deal and Globe Street. Barnett is currently a Reporter at The Bond Buyer.
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In the week ended August 13, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index fell by two basis points to 4.37% from 4.39% in the previous week. The BB40 Index is based on the price of 40 long-term bonds.
August 13 -
Loop Capital Markets has surpassed the $1 trillion mark in underwriting municipal bond deals since it was founded almost 18 years ago, the firm announced on Tuesday.
August 11 -
Municipal bond funds suffered a second week of redemptions, according to the latest Lipper data. Funds which report weekly posted $308.245 million of outflows in the week ended Aug. 5, after experiencing outflows of $73.372 million in the previous week.
August 6 - New York
New York City has announced the results of an RPF for the selection of financial advisors, pricing advisors and swap advisors for bond sales by the city and by its financial entities. The selection process was held in collaboration with the comptroller's office.
August 6 - Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico issues were mixed in rather quiet trading on Tuesday after Standard & Poor's lowered its rating on the Puerto Rico Public Finance Corp. S&P dropped the PFC's $1 billion of Series 2011A, 2011B, and 2012A bonds to D from CC following a payment default on the bonds.
August 4 -
Prices of top-shelf municipal bonds finished stronger on Friday, traders said, with yields on some maturities falling by as much as four basis points. For the week, muni yields were slightly weaker.
July 31 -
Prices of top-shelf municipal bonds were higher across the board at mid-session, traders said, as the market once again awaits hefty upcoming new issuance.
July 31 -
Municipal bond traders on Friday were looking ahead to next week's new issue calendar, as muni yields were closing out the week mixed.
July 31 -
Municipal bond funds suffered a reverse and saw outflows in the latest week, according to the latest Lipper data. Funds which report weekly saw $73.372 million of outflows in the week ended July 29, after seeing inflows of $125.410 million in the previous week. The prior weeks inflows were the first time in 12 weeks the funds had seen a cash infusion.
July 30 -
S&P Dow Jones Indices on Wednesday launched two new indexes that will break out and track tax-exempt and taxable revenue bonds in existing S&P DJI indexes.
July 29 -
Andres Capital Management, an independent investment advisory firm formed by former Merrill Lynch municipal market executives Bob Andres, Ted Palatucci, and Fred Offenberg, opened for business this week in Berwyn, Pa.
July 29 -
As fund flows turned positive for the first time in 12 weeks, analysts said the impact of Puerto Rico and Chicago on investor behavior may have been overstated, and that fund flows reflect only a corner of the municipal bond market.
July 28 -
Prices of top-rated municipal bonds were stronger at mid-session, traders said, as yields on some maturities weakened by as much as three basis points.
July 27 -
Municipal bond priced finished out the week on a strong note, traders said, with some yields falling on Friday by as much as one basis point. Volume for the week came in at a revised total of $8.39 billion, according to Thomson Reuters, consisting of $6.82 billion of negotiated deals and $1.56 billion of competitive sales.
July 24 -
For the first time in 11 weeks, municipal bond funds reported cash inflows.
July 23 -
Municipal bond funds have reported outflows for 11 straight weeks, as investor confidence gave way to concerns over the credit of such issuers such as Puerto Rico and Chicago and the probability of rising interest rates.
July 22 -
Prices of top-quality municipal bonds finished steady on Monday, traders said, as the market geared up to take on this weeks chunky new issue calendar after last weeks busy dealings.
July 20 -
Prices of top-quality municipal bonds were steady at mid-session, traders said, as the market gears up to take on this week's chunky new issue calendar after last week's busy dealings.
July 20 -
The municipal bond market barely got a breather as volume for the week totaled a revised $7.81 billion, according to Thomson Reuters. The market saw three deals of over $1 billion each sell during the week, topped by issuers in Chicago, Indiana, and California.
July 17 -
Prices of top-quality municipal bonds were stronger at mid-session, traders said, with yields on some maturities rising by as much as two basis points.
July 17
