Lynne Funk

James Pruskowski, a nearly 30-year veteran of BlackRock, will be CIO and head of business development for 16Rock Asset Management LLC, a newly formed affiliate of 16th Amendment Advisors LLC.

Rising interest rates, market volatility and the loss of business and revenue top the public finance industry's concerns for 2023.

Views from CreditSights' Patrick Luby, senior municipal strategist, and John Ceffalio, senior research analyst, on everything from mutual fund flows, the evolution of the retail investor, municipal bond volume and important credit implications from transit, higher ed, airports, high-yield and more. Lynne Funk hosts.

It's not just the "right" thing to do; it's good for business, say the Freda Johnson Award winners, Massachusetts Treasurer Deborah Goldberg and Ballard Spahr's Emilie Ninan. They discuss how diversifying the industry is key to growth and success. Lynne Funk hosts. 

Markets took the news that it will soon be appropriate to increase the Fed funds target rate at a slower pace as good news.

Nathaniel Singer, who has nearly four decades of experience in municipal derivatives and advisory space, has joined PFM.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides billions in grants for state and local governments. The challenge now is how quickly and effectively they can spend it amid an inflation–fueled rising–rate environment.

Colleagues and competitors alike note his underwriting experience is unparalleled in the industry.

The plan reduces HTA's $6.4 billion of total claims by more than 80% and saves Puerto Rico more than $3 billion in debt service payments, the Oversight Board said.

While October is typically a busy issuance month, 2022 is not shaping up to be as more issuers are sidelined by volatility. The primary market will see another light calendar in the holiday-shortened week.

U.S. Treasuries saw more losses and municipal to UST ratios fell on the day's moves with the long bond valuation below 100%.

Steve Genyk, head of middle markets, will assume leadership of the public finance team on an interim basis, the firm said.

Bids wanteds are on the rise, but a constructive secondary market showed a steady to firmer market in the past two sessions. ICI's latest outflows figure is the highest since June.

Elevated secondary selling pressure on Tuesday forced more losses. Triple-A yields rose by as many as seven to eight basis points across the curve, moving the entire triple-A curve above 3% and the 30-year a dozen basis points shy of 4%.

Bids wanteds have been elevated, municipal bond mutual fund outflows large and consistent and the short end of the U.S. Treasury curve continues its march upward, moves that muni investors cannot ignore.

A whopping 91% of Bond Buyer California Public Finance Conference survey respondents expect municipal interest rates will end the year higher than current rates and 73% said rates will have the largest impact on the public finance industry in the next two quarters

Don't expect much new information to come from Jackson Hole this year analysts say, as the data-dependent FOMC will rely on incoming economic numbers in September to decide the proper size rate hike.

Losses for August climbed last week, with month-to-date returns in the red at negative 1.40% on the Bloomberg muni index, high-yield seeing 0.99% losses, taxables at 2.01% losses and the impact index losing 1.70%.

New-issue volume grows to $10.7 billion led by a $2.7 billion taxable Massachusetts ESG deal, $1.35 billion of Oklahoma natural gas taxables, $1.25 billion from the Regents of the University of California and $1.1 billion from New York City.

Pressure on the short end of the muni curve is being exacerbated by a 3.24% two-year Treasury note, from a correction to floating rate notes and dealer positions.