Christine Albano is a reporter in the Investor’s & Investing beat, which she has covered for the past two decades. She has a wide range of buy side sources in the municipal market and has covered trends affecting retail investors, institutions, municipal mutual funds, tax-exempt money market funds, and the high-yield beat. She has also written about some of the industry’s biggest issues, such as historic defaults in Orange County, Calif., Puerto Rico, and Jefferson County, Ala., as well as the collapse of the variable-rate demand market. In addition, she reported on the subsequent 2008 financial crisis, and the death of municipal bond pioneer Jim Lebenthal. She provided next day coverage of the impact on the municipal bond market of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, and recently interviewed The Vanguard Group Inc. founder, former chief executive officer, and investment guru John C. Bogle about the best investing advice for the municipal market.
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Ratios aren't budging as municipal to UST outperformance is not abating. The three largest deals of the week will be taxable, increasing the demand component for exempt paper.
April 9 -
High-yield inflows return to the tune of $821 million. The 10-year triple-A hovers just above 1%.
April 8 -
The two firms have collaborated to include the ICE Municipal Yield Curve and spreads for all underlying trades to all Lumesis customers using its DIVER New Issue and Secondary Pricing services.
April 7 -
The theme of low supply, positive inflows and the anticipation of higher tax rates led triple-A benchmarks firmer by one to two basis points.
April 6 -
The services sector showed improvement and employment made big gains in March, but economists note the labor market remains far from full employment.
April 5 -
Non-farm payrolls rose 916,000 in March, according to a Labor Department report Friday, while the unemployment rate fell to 6%.
April 1 -
Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure proposal, combined with the shortened week and the arrival of the second quarter, took attention away from the muni market.
March 31 -
Larger fund flows, lower supply and optimism surrounding issuer credit post-stimulus allowed for a March price reversal that avoids posting two consecutive months with losses. The consumer confidence index jumped to its highest reading in a year in March.
March 30 -
Municipals continue to outperform Treasuries amid a light holiday-shortened week led by a California tobacco deal.
March 29 -
A trio of municipal bond analysts say now is the time for investors to take advantage of the strength and resilience of the asset class.
March 29 -
Refinitiv Lipper reported more inflows into municipal bond mutual funds to the tune of $592.4 million. Initial jobless claims fell to the lowest point since the pandemic began, moving Treasuries weaker while equities saw gains.
March 25 -
Monday’s economic data suggested weakness, with existing home sales declining for the first time in four months and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s National Activity Index slipping into negative territory, but economists are not concerned.
March 22 -
A reversal of fund flows and the arrival of the economic aid for states and local governments helped boost the market's morale ahead of $10 billion in new-issues supply this week.
March 15 -
Municipals largely ignored the moves to higher yields in U.S. Treasuries as participants await the largest new-issue calendar of 2021 and big-name deals out of New York and Illinois.
March 12 -
The Investment Company Institute reported outflows from municipal bond mutual funds but inflows into exchange-traded funds. The February consumer price index came in as expected, while the core was below expectations, and analysts expect bigger rises ahead.
March 10 -
Munis were stronger across the curve as secondary trading was constructive and bellwether credits moved yields lower.
March 9 -
Despite the recent outflows and volatility of the Treasury market, municipal bonds have and should continue to outperform as stimulus from Washington provides some respite.
March 8 -
With the reset in yields in the rear view, valuations — especially relative to Treasury — will likely support continued robust demand.
March 5 -
Knox was a public finance lawyer and former partner at Orrick who aided the cities of Vallejo and Stockton through bankruptcy.
March 2 -
Holzinger's career in finance spanned 30 years and included attorney, investment banking, bond insurance, and consulting.
March 2
