The Latest

Texas factory activity growth, as measured by the production index, “continued to expand in February,” but at a slower pace than in January.

December wholesale inventories increased by 1.1%, vs. a 0.1% rise expected by an MNI survey of analysts.

Intel Corp. is this week’s top headline act in the municipal bond primary market as issuers in Arizona and Oregon prepare to sell $650 million of industrial and economic development revenue bonds.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for January fell to negative 0.43 from a downwardly revised positive 0.05 in December.

Note issuance declined in 2018 as a result of tax reform, rate fears, and ongoing fiscal austerity sparked by state and local revenue growth.

Municipal bond insurance may have finished 2018 down 18.1% from where it was the year before, but it outpaced the 23.5% volume dip the overall industry saw due to changes in tax legislation.

Development was down 50.4%, healthcare was off by 42.7%, and electric power declined 40.1%. The slides compared with an overall decline of 23.5% in total issuance.

Following a late-2017 rush to market of advance refundings and private-activity bonds in the run-up to the implementation of new tax legislation, supply in 2018 -- particularly refunding issuance -- suffered a steep decline.

IHS Markit Ipreo forecasts weekly bond volume will increase to $4.9 billion.

Maureen Stapleton is credited with diversifying the San Diego County Water Authority's water supply.