Jessica Lerner is a senior reporter and buy-side specialist for Bond Buyer where she writes the daily market column, the monthly volume story and longer trend stories. Prior to this, she worked as a beat reporter at two Connecticut newspapers. She earned her master's in business and economics reporting from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and her bachelor's in journalism and statistics from the University of Connecticut.
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Municipal to UST ratios hit highs earlier in the week, creating entry points for buyers to return to the market even as ratios fell on the week. The primary will see a smaller calendar at $5.4 billion.
February 4 -
Municipals were stronger again on the day, though, and new-issues were repriced to lower yields.
February 3 -
Buyers appeared to return to the market the past two sessions after the January correction moved yields and ratios higher. Secondary trading was up again on Wednesday and new deals were well-received.
February 2 -
The two active municipal bond insurers wrapped $38.7 billion in 2021, an 8.7% increase from the $35.6 billion of deals done in 2020 and the highest level since 2009.
February 2 -
Triple-A benchmark curves were bumped two to five basis points outside of five years as markets calmed to start February.
February 1 -
Market volatility has led to munis seeing the worst performance to start the year since 2018 and the biggest monthly losses since March 2020.
January 31 -
January issuance declined by 14.7% year-over-year amid a rising-rate and volatile environment.
January 31 -
Short-end muni yields have risen more than 30 basis points on some triple-A scales over the past five trading sessions.
January 28 -
Returns are deep in the red with the Bloomberg Municipal Index at negative 1.85%, while high-yield sits at negative 1.81%.
January 27 -
The statement offered no surprises, but Fed Chair jerome Powell's refusal to denounce more hawkish scenarios hurt market sentiment.
January 26 -
Only one firm remained in the same spot they were at in 2020, while the rest of the rankings saw big shifts from a year prior.
January 26 -
Triple-A benchmarks were cut two to six basis points across the curve with the largest moves concentrated again on bonds inside 10 years, underperforming Treasuries once again.
January 25 -
Munis are expected to underperform for another few weeks as markets remain volatile and investors reevaluate allocations.
January 24 -
The combination of steady supply, heavy secondary selling and inconsistent demand have moved yields to their highest levels since May 2020.
January 21 -
In the near term, federal aid is sitting on balance sheets ready to be deployed if some of the downside economic risks become reality, experts say.
January 21 -
The Investment Company Institute reported a large drop of inflows into municipal bond mutual funds at $142 million in the week ending Jan. 12, down from $1.413 billion in the previous week.
January 19 -
The 2-, 5- and 10-year UST is higher than before the pandemic began as investors factor in a rate hike as soon as March.
January 18 -
The largest deal of the week comes from the New York City Transitional Finance Authority with $950 million of exempts and $250 million of taxables.
January 14 -
Lamont Financial Services Corp., Swap Financial Group and RBC Capital Markets moved up into the top 10.
January 14 -
BofA Securities led with $62.01 billion of deals. Out of the top five, only Morgan Stanley increased its market share year-over-year.
January 14
