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In this episode, Howard Cure, Director of Municipal Bond Research at Evercore Wealth Management, discusses the improving state of public pensions, the ongoing challenges faced by states like New Jersey and Illinois, and the risks associated with pension obligation bonds.

Issuers in the eight-state region sold $50.6 billion of bonds with Texas accounting for 65% of the volume.

At $1.8 billion, the tax-exempt and taxable deal is the largest on the calendar this week and it's the latest offering from the city since a $1.2 billion refunding issuance in July. 

As investors contemplate rate policy for the remainder of 2024, "there have been a few strategies from which to choose to boost yield — short positioning, curve extension and credit quality," noted Kim Olsan, senior fixed-income portfolio manager at NewSquare Capital.

The possibility of moving stalled housing bills forward combined with promises of down payment assistance is offering hope to housing advocates.

Loop Capital's Jim Reynolds was among the nine private and public entities that signed a pledge to help bring in more historically underutilized businesses on construction projects.

New sales of tax-exempt bonds in California have been gobbled up by buyers looking to shield income from the state's high taxes and to lock in yields.

The measure would have requested $20 billion of bond authority from voters in nine San Francisco-area counties; backers said they would try in a later year.

Part of the surge in issuance came from issuers tapping the capital market after several years due to the inability to no longer postpone long-delayed projects and the drying up of pandemic aid.

VRDOs may be a "short-term solution" for issuers to refinance when the Fed starts cutting rates, said James Pruskowski, chief investment officer at 16Rock Asset Management.