Far West

WASHINGTON — The number of municipal securities that traded in 2011 remained largely unchanged from 2010 and the volume of trades of less than $100,000 rose during the period, suggesting that more retail investors may be buying and selling municipal bonds.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board proposed rule changes and interpretive guidance aimed at ensuring that underwriters and dealers comply with an issuer's instructions to sell bonds to retail investors during retail order periods.

WASHINGTON — This year, the volume of municipal debt issuance is expected to increase from the suppressed levels in 2011 caused by curtailed federal spending, federal cuts to Medicaid and Medicare, and pent-up capital requirements and borrowing needs, according to a report Moody's Investors Service released Monday.

The Senate on Tuesday voted against limiting debate on dozens of amendments lawmakers want to add to a bipartisan transportation bill, setting up more negotiations as Congress moves closer to having to resort to yet another temporary extension to the current law before it expires at the end of this month.

The National Federation of Municipal Analysts plans to release a paper outlining possible negative consequences to a California law dissolving some 400 of the state's redevelopment agencies.

SAN FRANCISCO — Stockton is not alone. The ski town of Mammoth Lakes is also using a new California state mediation law to try to avert Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Controller Wendy Greuel has released an economic forecast projecting a $200 million deficit next year and recommending that the city focus on structural budgetary changes instead of relying on one-time revenues and expenditure deferrals.

SAN FRANCISCO — Standard & Poor's downgraded Stockton, Calif., for the third time in less than two weeks, to "selective default" from CC.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve a new rule that would govern the activities of broker's brokers, which typically provide secondary market liquidity for retail investors in the municipal securities market.

A Superior Court judge on Wednesday denied a request for an injunction from a San Diego hotel workers union seeking to block a vote on a special tax to fund the San Diego Convention Center expansion.