Christine Albano

The market took a much-needed breather Friday and U.S. Treasuries pared Thursday's losses to see the 10-year fall 12 basis points to 1.42% and the 30-year 17 basis points to 2.11%. Municipals were steady at 1.14% in 10 years and 1.82% in 30.

High-grade deals priced and secondary trading showed bonds exchanging hands at yields higher than triple-A benchmarks in some cases, but a healthy two-way flow was evident, even if there are signals that yields have not yet hit a ceiling.

Muni yields rose another five basis points on the 10- and 30-year, bringing the total cuts to scales to 18 and 17 basis points, respectively, from Tuesday as the asset class moved closer to UST movements after lagging that market since the start of the year.

Muni yields have climbed double-digit basis points in a week but technicals remain strong. Refinitiv Lipper reports $1.96 billion of inflows into municipal bond mutual funds.

With the U.S. Treasury sell off, municipal to UST ratios fell below 55% in 10-years.

Refinitiv Lipper reported $2.64 billion of inflows into municipal bond mutual funds. The overwhelming demand for the large deals priced this week demonstrates the flood of available cash that continues to support a strong market.

Even if there was some hesitation in the past few sessions to accept lower municipal yields given rich valuations, municipals continue grinding lower. One- and two-year AAA yields hit record lows of 0.06% and 0.08%, respectively.

Joe Geraci, who spent 24 years at Citi, most recently as co-head of the Global Spread Products division, will join investment advisor Old Orchard Capital.

Attractive returns are pushing investors into high-yield at a time of historically low interest rates and a shortage of muni volume, but caution is warranted as COVID-19 still looms.

New issues priced with ease with high-grade issuers tight to triple-A benchmarks. It was the first time the municipal yield curve saw such noticeable movement, following little changed secondary activity for nearly the past two weeks.

A 'perpetual calm' continues to fall over the municipal market as inflows into municipal funds, combined with the shortage of traditional tax-exempt supply, is directing most aspects of daily market activity.

Muni yields have been in a nine-basis point range since the beginning of the year while UST yields have fluctuated more than 20 basis points. With so little supply, muni credit spreads continue to compress.

Tax-exempt performance is dependent on what supply looks like versus taxables. The 30-day visible supply shows more than 30% taxables on tap, though some analysts say the taxable increase makes exempts more attractive.

Friday’s data showed economic weakness. Consumers, the drivers of the economy, pulled back during the holiday season and have exhibited weakening sentiment.

Municipal bonds continue to ignore UST and ICI reports $2.67 billion of inflows. While CPI should stay soft through the first quarter, expectations for future inflation should be considered.

Muni to U.S. Treasury ratios hover near the lowest point in a decade and analysts see little impetus for munis to catch up in the near term.

Municipals were little changed Monday as participants await the larger new-issue calendar while equities and U.S. Treasuries react to news out of Washington and COVID-19 ravages the globe.

Doug Vissicchio, who has nearly three decades of experience, has joined UBS as managing director and head of principal municipal trading to continue the firm's development of its principal municipal trading businesses.

As it reaches its 50th year in business, Ramirez ranks 15th industry wide among all negotiated and competitive underwriters with 47 deals totaling $6.1 billion in 2020.

The municipal market was punctuated by a global pandemic, a controversial U.S. presidential election, and volatility but managed through to end with historic issuance records and better-than-expected returns.