Finance

The Regents of the University of California leads the negotiated calendar with $2 billion of general revenue refunding bonds.

With losses expected to be measured in the tens or hundreds of billions, the municipal finance industry begins to take stock of the Los Angeles-area wildfires.

Munis "responded in part to a better UST session [Wednesday] but weren't in a position from a supply standpoint to attempt to match the 10-15 basis point rally in taxables," said Kim Olsan, a senior fixed income portfolio manager at NewSquare Capital.

The bonds — $824.8 million tax-exempt and $400 million taxable — follow Orlando Health's major acquisitions of hospitals in Alabama and Florida.

The Fed may make more cuts and there's a floor forming under the Treasury market, per panelists at the Executives' Club of Chicago's Annual Economic Outlook.

Municipals are underperforming USTs month-to-date, with the Bloomberg Municipal Index showing losses of 1.02% versus 0.92% for USTs as of Tuesday, but both are outperforming losses in corporates that are seeing 1.23% losses in January.

S&P Global Ratings downgraded Chicago's general obligation debt to BBB from BBB-plus, saying the 2025 budget fails to address a structural imbalance.

"Even though it will be priced to sell, such large supply in one week may be a struggle for the asset class," said Anders S. Persson, Nuveen's chief investment officer for global fixed income, and Daniel J. Close, Nuveen's head of municipals.

Trading in Los Angeles credits has become more volatile. An L.A. Department of Water and Power deal slated for Wednesday went day-to-day.

Williams, a former salesman and founder of A. H. Williams & Co., became a "giant" in the Pennsylvania muni world through relationships built on trust.