Finance

The downgrades for Alaska's largest city come less than two months after the mayor set returning the city's ratings to AAA as a goal in his fiscal 2023 budget.

The Bloomberg Municipal Index is at positive 4.06% as of Friday. Bloomberg indices show high-yield returning 4.17%, taxable munis returning 4.38% in November while the Impact Index is at positive 4.66%.

Municipal underwriting fixture, Jaime Durando, announced his retirement from the industry after more than 30 years.

Markets took the news that it will soon be appropriate to increase the Fed funds target rate at a slower pace as good news.

Enrollment and inflation-adjusted net tuition trends are negative.

Lower supply in 2022 has somewhat helped the market avoid larger losses, many participants have said.

The negotiated calendar this week is very light due to the Thanksgiving holiday, with only four deals above $100 million.

A full review of the deal pushes its consideration by the Texas Bond Review Board into January.

Fitch and S&P downgraded the city as it grapples with rising costs, limited revenue prospects and a looming pension funding spike.

Issuance shrinks to $722 million while Bond Buyer 30-day visible supply sits at little more than $7 billion.

Municipals improved again Thursday, pushing the 10-year yield firmly below 3%, while Refinitiv Lipper reported $604.704 million of inflows into municipal bond mutual funds for the week ending Wednesday.

The deal has until the end of Friday to clear the Texas Bond Review Board, whose members had no questions about the transaction when it was presented at a Thursday meeting.

Investment bank expands with three former Citigroup muni veterans at the helm.

North Carolina Republican Patrick McHenry — who's in line to lead the House Financial Services Committee after the GOP won control of the chamber in the midterm elections — has called for the Fed to stay focused on controlling inflation. Democrats, who retained the Senate, have begun to voice concerns that higher borrowing costs will hurt jobs and potentially cause a recession.

As market participants navigate through the remaining weeks of 2022, Jeff Lipton, managing director of credit research at Oppenheimer Inc., expects munis to maintain their outperformance over USTs

The upgrades follow Fitch's upgrade of Morgan Stanley, the guarantor to the gas supplier in all of the transactions.

Triple-A yields fell five to eight basis points while UST saw yields fall up to nine out long, moving the 30-year UST below 4% for the first time since mid-October.

Illinois raised its fiscal 2023 revenue estimates by $3.69 billion, giving Gov. J.B. Pritzker enough to propose doubling the state's $1 billion rainy day fund.

If it passes legal muster, Wisconsin counties will decide whether to participate in what would likely be the first securitization of opioid settlement payments.

Fitch Ratings revised its outlook to stable from negative on BATA's AA-minus subordinate debt, retaining its stable outlook on AA-rated senior debt.