Finance

BofA Global Research strategists said they believe peak muni yields in this Fed tightening cycle were attained in October 2023 and "the bull market for munis is underway." 

The municipal dashboard solves three challenges: bond linkage, pricing and spread aggregation.

The Bay Area Rapid Transit was highlighted in the report on agencies still struggling.

"Demand is firming up. Interest rates have moved off the recent highs. Intermediate muni yields are about 50 basis points off from those highs," said Stephen Shutz, head of tax-exempt fixed income and a portfolio manager at Brown Advisory.

The laddered measure will keep the government open until Jan. 19 and Feb. 2 while the Senate focuses on international concerns, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.

Jaime Alvarez, who joined the Oregon State Treasury from Houston in 2021, was named the state's director of debt management in October.

"Everyone is reevaluating and taking a breather after the numbers [on Tuesday]," a New York trader said.

The bill to avert a government shutdown moves to the Senate and lawmakers are hoping to pass it before the government shuts down Friday at midnight.

Proceeds from the deal, along with additional monies, were to have been used to fund the costs of the Royal Caribbean Cruises' campus project as well as a debt service reserve fund.

Munis yields fell nine to 12 basis points, depending on the curve, but underperformed larger gains along the UST curve. Large new-issues began pricing.

Moody's kept stable rating outlooks on Florida, Maryland and Virginia after moving the United States to negative. D.C.'s outlook was cut.

November "continues to be off to a strong start as yields have fallen an average of 34 basis points across the curve since the start of the month," said Jason Wong, vice president of municipals at AmeriVet Securities.

"As with most fast rallies there are sessions when the market pauses to assess where fair value should play out," said Kim Olsan, senior vice president of municipal bond trading at FHN Financial.

The rating agency expects that an uptick in revenues will outpace expenses as the not-for-profit hospital industry gets a handle on labor costs.

A subpoena sent to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission this week seeks communications related to 2021's Winter Storm Uri and nearly $3 billion of utility securitizations that priced in 2022.

A constructive trading session in the secondary aided a busy primary once again as investors appear to be more engaged in the asset class.

California and Washington sold four large refunding GO deals in the competitive market while several deals of size priced in the negotiated market led by a $650 million for Arizona's Salt River Project. A constructive secondary led yields to fall three to five basis points.

The upgrade brings Illinois up to the A-minus level across the board. The state had three BBB-minus or equivalent ratings as recently as July 2021.

The recent rally is good news for munis, which have "posted a total-negative return loss for three straight months," said Jason Wong, vice president of municipals at AmeriVet Securities.

Attorney General Ken Paxton put several big banks under a review last month, raising concerns more municipal bond underwriters could be driven out of the state.