Dan Seymour

Special assessment and tax-increment financing bonds from regions prone to property bubbles and busts are most vulnerable to the continuing weakness of the commercial real estate market, according to a Fitch Ratings report released Tuesday.

JPMorgan has hired Jose Pagan to run the firm’s public finance operations in south Florida.

Market gains and new money from investors continued to push municipal bond mutual funds’ assets to records last week.

Minnesota will lead a modest slate of new state and local government debt issuance this week as it comes to market with a competitive $865 million general obligation deal.

Tax-free money market funds suffered a big exodus of cash last week as investors continue to grow disgruntled with paltry yields.

Nuveen Investments announced plans Thursday to purchase First American Funds’ long-term asset business as part of a strategy to offer a more diverse suite of products to investors.

Money market funds are taking advantage of higher short-term interest rates the past few months to reclaim some of the management fees they have been waiving to avoid negative yields.

After scrambling to sew up $84 billion in budget holes for the new fiscal year, states already face as much as $149 billion in new shortfalls during the next three, according to a report Tuesday from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Municipal bond mutual funds attracted another influx of new money last week as the pace of flows into the industry continued to stabilize.

Even as Build America Bonds continue to transform municipal finance, one thing stays constant: hedging a portfolio of muni securities remains very difficult.

George Friedlander has rejoined Citigroup as head of municipal strategy.

NEW YORK - George Friedlander has rejoined Citigroup as head of municipal strategy.

Two new Standard & Poor’s indexes tracking municipal bonds launched yesterday, paving the way for Vanguard to enter the municipal exchange-traded fund business.

Municipal bond mutual funds’ assets climbed to a new record total as they continue to command new money from investors in spite of low yields and a nonstop wave of bad headlines in the mainstream press over state and local government credit.

The growing investor acceptance of taxable municipal bonds over the past year appears to have hit a stumbling block.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of The Bond Buyer 40 Municipal Bond Index, a measure of municipal bond values with an interesting and at times inglorious history.

Municipal bond mutual funds last week rebounded from a brief spell of cash leakage with the biggest influx of new money in four months.

Build America Bonds have begun to reshape long-term taxable bond indexes that until now included little state and local government debt.

Closed-end municipal bond funds continue to enjoy shelter from the turbulence plaguing the rest of the sector.

Investors pulled cash out of municipal bond mutual funds last week for just the third time in a year and a half, despite a strong week for state and local government debt.