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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The short end of the municipal curve again saw yields fall, but that didn't impede the productivity of the day's new-issue market.
By Lynne Funk and Chip BarnettMay 12 -
The Fed on Monday essentially said it was standing 10 feet back from the market, allowing it to manage the pandemic-driven crisis itself. Lower-rated issuers may benefit most from the facility.
May 11 -
High-grade trading Friday showed the disparate credit picture that investors are facing; they now need to dig deeper into municipal financials and the backstops on certain bonds.
May 8 -
In the midst of issuer credit deterioration due to coronavirus, muni yields fell and new-deals were priced on the heels of California's $54 billion deficit news.
By Lynne Funk and Chip BarnettMay 7 -
Primary deals are now coming at tighter spreads to the secondary than they have recently. Cooler heads are appearing on the institutional side, but ICI reports $1.7 billion pulled from muni market mutual funds.
By Chip Barnett and Lynne FunkMay 6 -
Two credits struggling with coronavirus-driven revenue shortfalls experienced very different outcomes in Tuesday's market. Taxable Penn State bonds showed the appetite for taxable munis is real.
May 5 -
Continuing the firm’s national expansion, HJ Sims announced it is opening offices in Chicago and Orange County, Calif.
By Chip BarnettMay 5 -
A premarketing wire indicated the deal could price at spreads 300 basis points north of benchmark yields. In Monday's trade, the rally begun last week continued.
By Lynne Funk and Chip BarnettMay 4 -
Issuance in the public finance sector is likely to contract in 2020, S&P Research says.
By Chip BarnettMay 1 -
A range of technical issues — from month-end accounting and financing to spread widening, price volatility and the coronavirus impact on businesses and the economy — spurred a tone of relative quiet in Thursday's trade.
April 30 -
Thursday’s jobless claims at 3.839 million, weaker income and spending data show COVID-19 continues to dampen economic activity.
By Chip BarnettApril 30 -
The FOMC action came as GDP dropped 4.8% in the first quarter and pending home sales plunged 20.8% amid the pandemic.
By Chip BarnettApril 29 -
Pessimism about the economic situation in the United States continues to affect the way consumers view the economy and their financial position.
By Chip BarnettApril 28 -
Several of the Lone Star State's manufacturing indexes dropped to record lows in April, a Dallas Fed survey showed.
By Chip BarnettApril 27 -
The Commerce Department reported that new orders for manufactured durable goods fell 14.4% in March while the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index dropped to 71.8 in April, the largest monthly decline on record.
By Chip BarnettApril 24 -
While the number of people filing for unemployment dropped to 4.4 million, there are now 26 million Americans without work and economists expect the unemployment rate to hit 20%.
By Chip BarnettApril 23 -
Bryan Garcia and Eric Shrago of the Connecticut Green Bank, explain how “Green Liberty Bonds” will expand clean energy investment. The small-denomination munis for retail, modeled after the World War II Series E bonds, are independently certified to fight climate change. Chip Barnett hosts.
By Chip BarnettApril 23 -
The new federal COVID-19 relief package probably won’t be the last boost the U.S. economy will get, economists say.
By Chip BarnettApril 22 -
The New York City Council is set to unveil a COVID-19 relief package of bills that include help for small businesses and tenants.
By Chip BarnettApril 21 -
Existing home sales fell 8.5% last month as the Philadelphia Fed said its indexes fell to record lows in April.
By Chip BarnettApril 21




















