Patrick McGee

Renewed appetite for equities has the fixed-income world playing defense Wednesday morning. Muni traders are anticipating some further back up in yields, but trading is light so selling pressure is minimal.

Plenty of scary headlines were circulating in the global marketplace this week, prompting investors to flock to high-grade fixed income.

Low volume and intense competition have limited U.S. Bank's ability to underwrite new deals since it launched a municipal securities group last September, but bank executives have adopted a long view and continue to bulk up the team with industry veterans.

Kroll Bond Ratings got one step closer to rating muni credits last week by announcing its first big public finance hire. The next step is to release a comprehensive default study to show the market it can be a serious rival to the three dominant rating agencies.

The Bond Buyer's weekly indexes indicate that tax-exempts outperformed the Treasury market this week — a trend that almost never happens when the two markets are rallying.

Higher borrowing costs for state and local governments as a result of the sovereign downgrade? Hardly. Or at least: not yet.

When Moody's Investors Service warned of a possible downgrade to the United States' sovereign credit last month, it said hundreds of triple-A muni credits ¯ including five of the 15 states it rates Aaa ¯ could likely follow.

Standard & Poor’s widely anticipated follow-up report on what the United States downgrade means for munis wasn’t as frightening as some had feared.

Assured Guaranty Ltd. reported late Monday better operating income in the first six months of 2011 than the same period in 2010. Not a bad start, considering 2010 turned out to be a record year for company earnings.

Nobody knows exactly what the long-term impact of the United States losing its AAA rating from Standard & Poor's means for municipal bonds, but that didn’t stop the experts from speculating.

"Flight to quality" just doesn't capture the magnitude of the staggering rally seen in the municipal market this week. And the Treasury rally was even more colossal.

The municipal bond market easily outperformed the Treasury market Wednesday as institutional investors recognized that relative valuations were at some of the most attractive levels all year.

The municipal bond market easily outperformed the Treasury market Wednesday as institutional investors recognized that relative valuations were at some of the most attractive levels all year.

NEW YORK – Tax-exempt investors are showing no hesitation in leaping out the yield curve to lock in long-term rates. The move is flattening the triple-A curve as yields fall as much as 14 basis points to new 2011 lows.

NEW YORK – Municipal bonds continue to strengthen Wednesday morning as Treasuries rally, stocks sell off, and fears of slow growth continue to dominate investor sentiment.

The secondary municipal market found itself in another deadlock on Friday as traders opt to hold off until a debt-ceiling resolution is found on Capitol Hill.

The secondary muni market found itself in another deadlock on Friday as traders opt to hold off until a debt ceiling resolution is found on Capitol Hill.

NEW YORK – Secondary muni market trading is at a standstill, according to traders, but the order-driven new-issue market has muni prices on the rise.

Attractive muni bond valuations are helping the tax-exempt market maintain a degree of stability Friday morning but trading is slow and participants are spooked by the ongoing debacle on Capitol Hill.

The Bond Buyer's weekly indexes reflected a bit of selling pressure this week, which traders attributed to general uncertainty caused by the political gridlock in Washington.