Chip Barnett

The holiday week started off with a bang for the municipal bond market — with much of the fireworks coming from outside the continental United States. It ended with a whimper, in a quiet trading day before the national holiday marking the birth of a nation.

Prices of top-quality municipal bonds were steady at mid-session, traders said, in very quiet pre-holiday trade.

Fixed Income Academy and The Bond Buyer have announced two winners in their "Back to Basics" scholarship contest.

The municipal bond market is gearing up to take off as the three-day holiday weekend looms large. The bond and stock markets are closed on Friday in observance of the Independence Day holiday. Trading will resume on Monday.

Prices of top-rated municipal bonds finished weaker on Wednesday, according to traders, with yields on some maturities rising by as much as five basis points. There were no major deals on tap but traders were eying Puerto Rico developments -- and the clock, as the countdown toward the long holiday weekend began to tick.

Prices of top-rated municipal bonds were weaker at mid-session, according to traders, with yields on some maturities up by as much as five basis points.

The municipal bond market on Wednesday was digesting the supply that priced in the previous two sessions.

Municipal bonds closed out the session unchanged on Tuesday, traders said, as the rest of the week's paltry new issue supply came to market.

Municipal bonds were unchanged at mid-session in quiet trading, as the bulk of the week's paltry supply was being priced.

Prices of Puerto Rico debt continued to fall on Tuesday, with commonwealth Series 2014A general obligation 8s of 2035 trading as low as 64.50 cents on the dollar, with a 13.028% high yield, according to the MSRB's EMMA website.

The municipal bond market was waiting the bulk of the week's paltry supply to price on Tuesday as traders kept watch on muni yields, which fell sharply on Monday in the wake of Puerto Rico and Greece financial turmoil.

Worry about Greece fueled a flight to safety buy in bonds on Monday, pushing up prices of both U.S. Treasuries and municipal bonds. Traders said yields on most top-rated municipals closed down six basis points as uncertainty over Puerto Rico added to investors' general unease.

Worry about Greece fueled a flight to safety buy in bonds on Monday, pushing up prices of both U.S. Treasuries and municipal bonds.

Prices of top-shelf municipal bonds were sharply higher, traders said, as yields on some maturities fell by as much as six basis points as uncertainty over Puerto Rico and Greece fueled a flight to safety buy.

Prices of Puerto Rico debt fell on Monday after a published report quoted Gov. Alejandro García Padilla as saying the commonwealth cannot pay its $72 billion in debt.

For the eighth week in a row, municipal bond funds reported outflows, bringing to 11 out of 26 weeks this year the funds have seen cash withdrawals.

Prices of top-quality municipal bonds finished unchanged on Wednesday, traders said, as Stifel priced the city of Los Angeles' $1.4 billion of tax and revenue anticipation notes while Bank of America Merrill Lynch priced the state of Massachusetts’ $955 million of general obligation bonds for institutions.

Prices of top-quality municipal bonds were mixed at mid-session, traders said, as yields on some maturities were steady to up by as much as one basis point.

Lumesis introduced a new product available on Ipreo’s platform to help municipal bond underwriters navigate the new regulatory landscape.

For the seventh week in a row, municipal bond funds reported outflows, bringing to 10 out of 25 weeks this year the funds have suffered cash withdrawals.