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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"Further Treasury rate volatility or distractions from more favorable alternatives could at the very least moderate money invested into the municipal bond market," DWS strategists said. However, "these dynamics could create periods of opportunity to buy tax-exempt bonds at attractive yields in 2025."
January 7 -
"These opportunities will surface periodically throughout the year against heavy supply and the increasingly uncertain path for the Fed, evolving fiscal policy, and volatile Treasury market backdrop," said J.P. Morgan strategists.
January 6 -
Heavy redemptions and coupon payments this month should help "stabilize" the market, said Barclays strategist Mikhail Foux.
January 3 -
The muni market saw $507.585 billion of debt issued in 2024, up 31.8% from $385.061 in 2023. This surpasses the previous record of $484.601 billion in 2020 by more than $20 billion, per LSEG data.
December 31 -
Both IG and HY indices will likely end this year richer versus USTs and their benchmarks, "leaving very little cushion to absorb rate volatility," said Barclays strategist Mikhail Foux.
December 30 -
High-yield funds saw outflows of $413.6 million compared to the previous week's outflows of $71 million.
December 26 -
In the remaining days of this year, "taxable rates continue to be pressured but munis are finding a stable, even supportive, bidside," said Kim Olsan, a senior fixed income portfolio manager at NewSquare Capital.
December 24 -
Munis "continued their slide" last week as yields rose an average of 23 basis points across the curve as the Fed Chairman Jerome Powell signaled the Fed will take a "more cautious approach" on interest rate cuts next year, said Jason Wong, vice president of municipals at AmeriVet Securities.
December 23 -
"Munis are grappling with a storm of uncertainty," said James Pruskowski, chief investment officer at 16Rock Asset Management.
December 19 -
It's hard enough convincing local governments to spend money on cyber insurance that covers ransomware attacks, said Omid Rahmani, public finance cybersecurity lead at Fitch Ratings. The new and very specific threat of a hacked financing process, is "absolutely" underappreciated by the public finance industry.
December 19
