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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Investors will be greeted Monday with a new-issue calendar estimated at $7.208 billion, led by $1.3 billion of GOs from bellwether Washington.
April 21 -
Even though yields have moved to higher ground, some participants say that even cheaper levels are needed to bring about more retail conviction. Muni-to-UST ratios are still rich.
April 20 -
The top two municipal bond insurers wrapped $5.735 billion in the first quarter of 2023.
April 20 -
The Investment Company Institute reported investors added $229 million to mutual funds in the week ending April 12, after $83 million of outflows the previous week.
April 19 -
Municipal outperformance to UST ended Tuesday as triple-A yields rose 12 to 20 basis points as several new issues began pricing.
April 18 -
Muni yields were cut four to eight basis points, depending on the scale, while UST yields rose seven to nine basis points. Muni outperformance and rich ratios continue.
April 17 -
For long-term muni bonds, BofA strategists noted that macro market and supply/demand conditions "are dominating the picture, pushing the high-grade muni market to a relatively rich valuation versus Treasuries."
April 14 -
For the week ending Wednesday, outflows intensified as Refinitiv Lipper reported $255.794 million was pulled from municipal bond mutual funds after $91.713 million of outflows the week prior. High-yield saw inflows.
April 13 -
Strong demand in the primary market is leading to the oversubscription of many new issues. Municipals and USTs were better again as macroeconomic concerns pressure equities.
April 12 -
Most of the top 10 issuers are mostly from just two states, with four from New York and three from California.
April 12 -
Among the top underwriters, J.P. Morgan Securities, Citi and Wells fell out of the top five while Jefferies entered the Top 10.
April 12 -
The second half of 2023 may see a slowdown, perhaps even a mild recession, said Daniel Close, the newly named head of municipals at Nuveen.
April 11 -
Municipals are coming off a rally and yields were better in spots Monday, but ratios are a cause for pause.
April 10 -
Household and U.S. bank ownership of individual bonds fell and the total face amount of munis outstanding was down 0.6% quarter-over-quarter and down 1.4% year-over-year, Fed data shows.
April 10 -
For the week ending Wednesday, outflows lessened as Refinitiv Lipper reported $91.713 million was pulled from municipal bond mutual funds after $194.097 million of outflows the week prior.
April 6 -
The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023.
April 6 -
Outflows continued with the Investment Company Institute reporting investors pulled $128 million from mutual funds in the week ending March 29, after $693 million of outflows the previous week.
April 5 -
Outside of economic data, "a light forward calendar is driving strong demand in the secondary market and with new issues, with some deals being significantly oversubscribed," SWBC's Roberto Roffo said.
April 4 -
For four consecutive weeks, triple-A yields have fallen, and munis returned over 2.2% for the month, "a great reversal from February where munis returned a loss of 2.26%," said AmeriVet Securities' Jason Wong.
April 3 -
Total volume for the month was $31.795 billion in 515 issues, down from $45.555 billion in 985 issues a year earlier, according to Refinitiv data.
March 31
