Finance

Indianapolis-based Sycamore Advisors is building its quantitative muscle with two new experienced municipal finance hires in New York: Peter Orr and Ching Yin.

"Munis are grappling with a storm of uncertainty," said James Pruskowski, chief investment officer at 16Rock Asset Management.

Moody's cited heavy reliance on reserves, potential for continued operating deficts, and a fall 2024 decline in enrollment as factors in the downgrade.

The central Texas city of Clyde said it issued tax and revenue anticipation notes with a 9.5% interest rate to repay its insurers after an Aug. 1 bond default.

As the market prepares for 2025, there's a lot of uncertainty around what the new administration will mean for the macroeconomic environment and interest rates, the latter of which may be impacted by policy around the deficit, said Steve Shutz, portfolio manager and director of tax-exempt fixed income at Brown Advisory.

The NFMA has floated best disclosure practices for public power agencies that ask for more data on climate and resiliency goals.

Analysts warn the many one-time measures in the budget Mayor Brandon Johnson narrowly got through City Council will make the 2026 budget even harder.

With investors now anticipating Wednesday's expected rate cut may be the last one for a while, "an overall bullish paradigm has been seriously weakened," noted Matt Fabian, a partner at Municipal Market Analytics, Inc.

As investors start shutting down for the year, there may be some mixed sessions ahead "especially for any accounts that find themselves as forced sellers," Birch Creek Capital said.

Overall state and local government credit conditions will remain neutral, Fitch Ratings says, though some storm clouds may be on the horizon.