Jessica Lerner is a senior markets reporter 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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The market rally "took a bit of a breather last week, with yields rising across the curve," said Daryl Clements, a portfolio manager at AllianceBernstein.
March 10 -
"March is not an overly positive month for munis, but a lot will depend on U.S. Treasuries," said Barclays strategist Mikhail Foux.
March 7 -
"Markets fixate on one risk at a time, and there's no shortage right now. Volatility has spiked, liquidity is thin, and buyers are sidelined — but that's temporary," said James Pruskowski, chief investment officer at 16Rock Asset Management.
March 6 -
Investors like the 10-year area of the curve because "if they're buying duration, the tax-exempt market is usually going to be one of the best places to buy," said Wesly Pate, a senior portfolio manager at Income Research + Management.
March 6 -
Issuance remains heavy this week, but while it's elevated, the muni market is "structurally undersupplied," meaning if 2024's record level of $500 billion-plus of issuance was doubled, the market could still digest it quite well, said Wesly Pate, a senior portfolio manager at Income Research + Management.
March 5 -
Short-end U.S. Treasuries rallied mid-morning, while UST yields were little changed out long, but ended the day weaker across most of the curve with the greatest losses out long. Munis were steady throughout the day.
March 4 -
"Apathy and caution" were the theme of the past week, said Birch Creek strategists.
March 3 -
New York City leads the negotiated calendar with $1.4 billion of GOs, followed by the Regents of the University of California with $1.2 billion of general revenue bonds.
February 28 -
February's volume was at $33.725 billion in 622 issues, up 1.6% from $33.191 billion in 614 issues in February 2024, according to LSEG data.
February 28 -
While UST yields rose up to five basis points out long Thursday, the current rally "that has taken the 30-year UST closer to where the 10-year yield traded a week ago has not impacted the same range in munis," said Kim Olsan, senior fixed income portfolio manager at NewSquare.
February 27
