James Ramage

The municipal market sauntered out of the gate Tuesday as participants expect the large calendar to set the tone for the week.

Monday's light activity underscored the murky view participants have into the municipal market.

Municipal market participants continue to hold off in preparation for the large new-issue calendar.

Two Basel III rule changes regulating government agencies adapted recently to the U.S. markets are likely to damp interest in municipal bonds as investments for large banks.

The municipal bond market is gearing up for what it expects will be a strong primary this week.

Investor demand for tax-exempts remained tepid as outflows from muni bond funds for the week of July 10 accelerated to $1.2 billion from $870 million the prior week.

Joel Ganzer, a 30-year veteran muni bond trader, died last month. He was 54.

The recent market selloff battered municipal bonds unevenly, as those investors holding credits with higher coupons fared the best.

June, traditionally a strong month for municipal bond issuance, provided more bad numbers in a difficult period for the market. Long-term muni bond volume for June plunged 46.5% from the same period in 2012.

The muni market, reeling from one of the worst selloffs in 25 years this week, witnessed record-breaking outflows to muni bond funds of $4.53 billion for the week of June 26.

Municipal bond mutual funds that report flows weekly recorded $4.53 billion in outflows for the week of June 26, Lipper FMI numbers showed, after $2.22 billion of outflows reported the previous week.

Nancy Feldman, a veteran of more than 30 years in public finance, has made a career of responding to times like these.

Municipal bond investors, spooked that interest rates' climb from record lows is accelerating, continue to pull money from the market in record-breaking droves.

Life insurance companies' interest in municipal bonds has grown dramatically over the past several years, as their holdings have more than tripled since 2007.

The amount of money investors have withdrawn from municipal bond mutual funds, at $1.61 billion for the week of June 12, continues to climb and break records for the year.

A difficult May in the municipal bond market has put investors on the defensive.

Slowly rising Treasury yields and modest activity pulled municipal bond yields higher Monday.

Slowly rising Treasury yields and modest activity are pulling muni yields higher as the day's trading session crossed the halfway point.

The municipal market had little momentum to propel it forward to start the week.

Investors pulled more money from municipal bond mutual funds than they have all year as funds that report flows weekly recorded outflows of $1.47 billion for the week ending June 5.