Finance

Munis experienced some firmness Tuesday, but "whether or not that's going to be for more than a nanosecond remains to be seen," said Jeff Lipton, managing director of credit research at Oppenheimer Inc.

An elevated new-issue market is on the horizon with $14.87 billion, per The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply.

The new-issue muni calendar is estimated at $8.522 billion next week with $6.075 billion of negotiated deals on tap and $2.446 billion on the competitive calendar, according to Ipreo and The Bond Buyer.

LSEG Lipper data Thursday showed $297 million of outflows from municipal bond mutual funds for the week ending Wednesday after $780.1 million of outflows the week prior.

The state is issuing more GO debt this year because it's well positioned to tap the bond markets, Nevada State Treasurer Zach Conine said.

Pessimism reigned during the state of the union panel at The Bond Buyer's California Public Finance conference in San Francisco.

Municipal mutual fund losses continued last week as the Investment Company Institute reporting investors pulled $2.645 billion from the funds in the week ending Oct. 11. ETFs see more inflows, though.

Munis are now following along with broader Treasury market weakness, and "at the same time are also attempting to manage some of the healthiest issuance that we've seen this year," said Morgan Stanley's Matthew Gastall.

Fishers, a suburb of Indianapolis, is selling $170 million of bonds for an arena to house the minor-league Indy Fuel and to host concerts and other events.

The hire by Missouri-based Stifel comes as some broker-dealers trim ranks amid weak issuance.

California received a negative outlook from the rating agency in May amid revenue uncertainty. The Public Works Board lease revenue bonds are rated Aa3.

Royden Durham and Tony Tanner, portfolio managers at the Aquila group of funds, talk with Chip Barnett about what's special about Kentucky and Arizona -- what's the same and what's different -- within their municipal bond markets. (18 minutes)

"The combination of higher yields and this week's heavier new-issue calendar will attract attention from income-focused individual investors as well as from institutional investors who are underweight munis," said CreditSights strategists Pat Luby and Sam Berzok.

As valuations got richer after muni outperformance this week, Barclays strategists expect munis to be "truly tested in the next several weeks, with supply picking up."

The recent rise in yields has created an opportunity for those investors waiting to "jump into the market," said Roberto Roffo, portfolio manager at SWBC Investment Company.  

Analysts discussed proposed changes to its metrics that will be finalized in January. An estimated 35% of ratings could experience upgrades or downgrades.

Despite the sticker shock of rising rates, yields in fact are at average levels for over the last 30 years, panelists said at the GFOA's MiniMuni conference.

A higher inflation figure sent UST yields higher, complicating Central Bank policymaking and reversing a flight-to-safety bid amid ongoing geopolitical turmoil in Israel.

Minutes from the September Federal Open Market Committee meeting were "not much of a market mover" Wednesday, said Scott Anderson, chief U.S. economist and managing director at BMO Economics.

Funds invested into risky private equity and real estate could flow into bonds