Kate Smith

Bids have waned for the troubled island's commonwealth and electric power authority debt, leaving traders to wonder if buy-side participants, who have dominated trading in Puerto Rico, believe the debt is nearing a top.

MMD was unchanged on Tuesday despite weakness in Wake County, N.C.'s general obligation pricing. While the deal came on top of MMD up to its 10-year maturities, spreads rose as high as 37 basis points above MMD between the deal's 12 and 20 year durations.

Wake County, N.C.'s general obligation issue was priced tight to Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale, as the market expected of the high-quality deal.

Puerto Rico's general obligation bonds continued to strengthen in trading on Monday after news that its electric power authority had at least delayed a seemingly inevitable restructuring.

New York City's general obligation deal on Wednesday surprised the market with its popularity. Institutional normally prices the city's large issuers cheaply compared to comparables thanks to its frequent availability in the market place.

Bondholders finally exhaled as the Puerto Rico power authority's critical LOC was extended, strengthening prices on PREPAs debt to 50.

PREPA receives strong bids as the market awaits information surrounding the its critical two letters of credit.

The municipal and Treasury markets both strengthened Thursday, particularly in the long end. Traders expect the rally to continue, as the market picks up investors fleeing Europe.

Traders thought the New York City deal was all too predictable, assuming heavy retail and muted institutional interest in the headline deal that concluded its pricing on Wednesday.

Wednesday morning's market was mixed as traders waited for institutional pricing of New York City's general obligation deal to come from Bank of America.

After two days of retail orders, institutional players will have a chance to buy the remainder of New York City's $900 general obligation deal.

Tuesday's active primary will pave the way for a bump in secondary activity, traders predict.

Monday's secondary was mostly flat as traders waited for the week's largest issuances to come through later in the week.

The Empire State will have a large role in this week's negotiated calendar, with New York City and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey bringing the two largest deals scheduled.

The market may be sympathetic to Oppenheimer's complaint, but it remains unsure how much legal backing the Rochester funds actually have.

A strong market and light primary allowed dealers to reprice their offerings, giving borrowers access to even cheaper capital.

Overnight bid activity in Treasuries strengthened the municipal market Thursday morning, allowing for strong bids and pricing in both the secondary and primary.

Education deals are scheduled to lead issuance in both the competitive and negotiated markets on Thursday.

Tennessee and Wayne County Airport received intense interest in their pricing on Wednesday, allowing dealers to cut yields even further from the already tight spreads.

Connecticut and Wisconsin deals topped Wednesday's calendar, after which deal size drops off dramatically. Despite the small size, these local deals have picked up intense interest from hungry bidders.