Jessica Lerner

The top two municipal bond insurers wrapped over $7.704 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up 4.9% year-over-year from the $7.342 billion in Q1 2025, according to LSEG data.

Butler Snow and Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth were new entrants to the top 10 year-over-year, knocking Chapman and Cutler and Nixon Peabody to the top 15.

Last year, 23 active ETFs launched along with nine passive ones. While the first quarter of the year bucks that trend as one active ETF launched compared to three passive ones, things could change the rest of the year, analysts say.

"Investors typically start positioning for heavy summer redemptions in summer, so the market typically performs well enough through the first half of June and we do not believe that this year will be any different," Barclays strategists said.

High-yield bond trading is "very bursty," with a lot of information at once and then nothing, said Matt Smith, founder and CEO of Spline Data.

Munivestor aims to help municipal governments by allowing them to raise capital directly from investors of all sizes in concert with advisors and regulated market partners.

Market support for taxables, particularly those from active issuers, remains firm. Taxables are seeing gains of 1.08% year-to-date, or 50 basis points above a UST index gain, said Kim Olsan, senior fixed income portfolio manager at NewSquare Capital.

The two-week ceasefire with Iran comes to an end Wednesday, though President Donald Trump said Thursday at an event in Las Vegas the war should be ending soon.

Pricing deals on Monday, alerting investors weeks ahead of pricing, and crafting SMA-friendly structures are some of the ways dealers are promoting their deals in a flood of supply.

RBC Capital Markets, Montague DeRose and Acacia Financial Group were new entrants into the top 10, bumping KNN Public Finance, Omnicap Group and Municipal Capital Markets Group.

With customization, asset managers and advisors can better align portfolios with clients' needs.

The top underwriters saw some shuffling, with Stifel Nicolaus and Ramirez entering the top 10 and knocking Barclays and Siebert Williams Shank to 11th and 12th, respectively.

Dealer inventories hit $8.8 billion in unsold variable rate bonds as of noon, Eastern, Tuesday, rising sharply over the past week, said Rick White, an independent consultant with more than 25 years in the industry.

The top 10 issuers accounted for $24.148 billion of total issuance, or 19%, in the quarter.

The sector's challenges have also impacted the overall high-yield education index.

With the "fragile" ceasefire in the United States-Iran conflict underway, the risk of higher rates beyond those from March has largely been removed, said BofA strategists.

During the two-week ceasefire anything could still happen and a "blow up" would create significant volatility, said Kevin McGuigan, director at Municipal Market Analytics.

"It seemed to be a relief rally [Wednesday], and that's what everyone's hoping for. But fundamentally, they're still major issues that need to be addressed, but people seem to be giving that a pass," on Wednesday, said a source.

Financial markets, including the muni market, priced in too much of a "sure thing, done deal" Wednesday morning, said Kyle Gerberding, director of trading, a portfolio manager and partner at Asset Preservation Advisors.

Wednesday's market rally is tied to President Donald Trump's announcement of the temporary ceasefire, which came about Tuesday night, an hour and a half before the president's 8 p.m. deadline, market participants said.